The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary Stratford Langthorne, Essex ― Archaeological Excavations for the London Underground Limited Jubilee Line Extension Project

The great Cistercian monastery of St. Mary Stratford Langthorne once stood on land just south of the new Jubilee Line station at Stratford. Originally founded as a Savigniac house in 1135, the monastery was incorporated into the Cistercian order in 1147. Its site was all but lost beneath London's spreading post-medieval industrial development and later railway engineering works. Excavations between 1973 and 1994 by the Passmore Edwards Museum (latterly Newham Museum Archaeology Service) and the Oxford Archaeology Unit recorded large parts of the monastic church, cemetery and related buildings. Analysis of this important work has now resulted in this publication by the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS).
This report provides an integrated chronological account of the abbey, including the notable expansion of the monastic church from a simple aisleless cruciform building in the mid 12th century into an aisled presbytery with ambulatory and eastern chapel in the 13th century. Thematic sections address current research debates, covering such topics as the plan of the precinct, the plan, architecture and decoration of the monastery, and the way of life of the inhabitants. Particular attention is focused on the 647 excavated human skeletons, currently the largest sample of burials from a Cistercian site in Europe, the majority buried to the north-east of the monastic church. The report sets out evidence for burial customs, patterns of cemetery use and the physical characteristics of the population, including evidence relating to medical care and on occasion its absence. Specialist sections catalogue and describe the various classes of finds and environmental evidence recovered from the site.