Villiers Street, underground burial vaults
Villiers Street, underground burial vaults
HER Number
16557
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Villiers Street, underground burial vaults
Place
Sunderland
Map Sheet
NZ45NW
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Burial Vault
Site Type: Specific
Burial Vault
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837
Form of Evidence
Demolished Building
Description
The nonconformist Bethel Chapel of 1817/18 (HER 4461) was enlarged in 1826, at which time sustantial underground burial vaults were built to the north. 409 interments are known to have been laid within the vaults. A non-conformist chapel with underground vaults is unusual. Most have a surface burial ground. In 1849 a Sunday School (HER 16556) was built over a section of the vaults.
Easting
440060
Northing
557100
Grid Reference
NZ440060557100
Sources
A. Tedder, 1992, Ghosts, Mysteries and Legends of Sunderland, p 71 (Black Cat Publications, Sunderland); Brown, L, D., and Town, M. 2018. Bethel Chapel Crypt, Villiers Street, Sunderland: Post-excavation Assessment report, North Pennines Archaeology and Bradford University, HER4855