Skeletons unearthed as giant train line excavation gets underway in London

Tucked beside one of London’s busiest railway stations, a small army of archaeologists dig through clay as they clear a burial site of 40,000 bodies to make way for a new train line.

They have already unearthed the first 1,200 skeletons from St James Gardens, a park next to the Euston terminal, which was a cemetery between 1788 and around 1853. It is one of Britain’s largest ever digs, and one of more than 60 archaeological sites that have emerged during the construction of a new high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham.

Since experts began work at Euston a few weeks ago, the site has been transformed into muddy, stepped trenches and excavations as deep as 8 metres.

Dozens of archaeologists in high-visibility orange suits and hard hats swarm one section of the plot under an 11,000 square-metre roof that protects them from the rain and prying eyes.

Their work has exposed remarkably well-preserved graves, protected from water damage by the clay that characterises much of the ground in London.