Sunderland, Villiers Street, underground burial vaults

HER Number:
16557

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Sunderland, Villiers Street, underground burial vaults

Place:
Sunderland

Map Sheet:
NZ45NW

Class:
Religious Ritual and Funerary

Site Type: Broad:
Funerary Site

Site Type: Specific:
Burial Vault

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

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:
4006

Northing:
5710

Grid Reference:
NZ40065710

Lats/Lons:

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