Digital Imaging at St Giles in the Fields Graveyard, London

St Giles in the Fields is a Grade I listed church in the heart of London’s west end, located close to Covent Garden and Tottenham Court Road. In May 2020, AOC Archaeology Group carried out an archaeological survey in the graveyard of the church, using innovative digital imaging techniques to enhance traditional recording methods. The survey focused on gravestones that had been historically moved from their original places in the churchyard to stand against a retaining wall, which the church shares with an adjacent council property on New Compton Street. Whymark & Moulton Chartered Surveyors have been commissioned by Camden Council, The Local Planning Authority, to rebuild the wall. The archaeological work took place so that the gravestones could be fully recorded before being removed ahead of this rebuilding.

RTI render: merged visualisation modes (left to right: diffuse, specular enhancement, surface normals); © AOC Archaeology

St Giles in the Fields has a long history as a place of worship. The first chapel recorded in the vicinity was documented in 1101 and was associated with a leper hospital patronised by Queen Matilda. The chapel became the parish church in 1542 and the surrounding area, recorded as stretching from Lincoln’s Inn Fields, to Charring Cross Road, Seven Dials and Bloomsbury, was used as a parish burial ground. The church was rebuilt in 1628, following contributions from wealthy residents, as the parish developed as a suburb of London in the early post-medieval period. The current church building was designed by Henry Flitcroft between 1731-1733, and was subsequently restored in 1896 and again in c.1952 following damage during the Blitz.

Renders of photogrammetric 3D models. Left: textured, right:surface detail ;© AOC Archaeology

Using these techniques allowed for previously unseen parts of the inscriptions on the gravestones to be revealed, providing important information on the names and ages of the individuals they belonged to, and the dates of their deaths. The individuals detailed on the gravestones ranged from under 10 years old to 83 years old, with dates of death recorded in 1794, 1819, 1833 and 1846. Many of the gravestones provided information on the family relationships between multiple individuals buried at the church. The deceased had originated from as far afield as Cork, Ireland, and Edinburgh, but were also linked to the local area around the church. One gravestone recorded the death of William Taylor, in 1846. Taylor resided at 114, Great Russell Street, a street that still exists today, just over 200m from the church.

RTI renders, left to right: diffuse colour, surface normals, specular enhancement ;© AOC Archaeology