The Cathedral Close cemetery

The Cathedral Close, nowadays a green, was for more than a thousand years the burial place of the people of Exeter. The view looks down from the west front of the cathedral and shows rows of Elizabethan burials.

Examination of skeletons such as these can yield much evidence about the health of Exeter's population. In 2000 a sample of 28 Tudor or early Stuart skeletons from the cemetery were examined. Ten had died before the age of ten and only four individuals had reached the age of 35; only two lived beyond their mid forties.

Acknowledgments: Exeter Archaeology