Crudely executed cross of lead

Crudely executed cross of lead, placed on corpse of victim of Black Death, Christ's Hospital, London, 1348-1349

The Black Death was a pandemic of bubonic plague which swept across Asia and Europe between 1346 and 1353. It killed many millions, possibly around half of those living in the areas affected and had a huge and lasting impact on those societies,

The disease struck the UK in 1348 and this simple lead cross was believed to date from that period and come from the plague pit on the site of Christ Church, London. However, later research has suggested that this and other crosses in the museum’s collection may date from a later era. It was possibly made for a prisoner from nearby Newgate Gaol who had died of typhus, referred to historically as ‘gaol distemper’, during the 1700s.