Monument record 1160/43 - Temple Bar cemetery

A Jewish cemetery in use during the 13th century was situated outside the North Gate of the town. Documentary evidence suggests that the cemetery was in use between 1259 and 1290. A deed of 1271 (replacing a lost deed of 1259) between St Andrews Priory and the town's Jewish community gave permission to bury their dead (the Jewish people of Northampton) and those of three other cities within a plot of land outside the North Gate. A fragment of tombstone carrying an inscription in Hebrew was found some way to the south of Temple Bar (on Princes Street, now the Grosvenor Centre) in the 19th century and is now in Northampton Museum. A collapsed Victorian culvert on Temple Bar in 1992 revealed several burials which were subsequently radiocarbon dated to the 12th/13th century. The burials were not located close to any of Northampton's known churches or religious houses and it is now accepted that this is the site of Northampton's medieval Jewish cemetery. Small areas of geophysical survey have suggested that the cemetery does not extend northwards into the gardens of Lawrence Court but does extend east and south of the 1992 burials, although the actual size of the cemetery is unknown. Jewish burial grounds are regarded as sacred places in perpetuity.

{1} Documentary references to a Jewish graveyard, in use in the second half of C13th. Cited as being in Barrack Road "outside the North Gate". Grid ref: SP753612 [wrongly sites cemetery to west of road]

{2} Cemetery in use in second half of C13th; the author believes it was in use between 1259 and 1290.. Relates to a charter held in the British Museum written in both Latin and Hebrew acknowledging the obligation of the Jewish community to pay an annual rent of half a mark to the Priory of St Andrew for the burial-ground outside the north gate of Northampton. This charter of 1271 replaced an earlier made between 1259 and 1264 which was lost during the seige of Northampton during the Barons' War in April 1264. The replacement charter states that the rent included the 'house of graves' as well as a house that had been taken 'in addition'. The inquisition taken after the expulsion in 1290 stated that 'The stones of the wall round the cemetery were worth 30s for carting away'. The site was rented to Ralph de Celneston for an annual rent of one penny and was described as: placea illa cum pertinentiis extra portam borialem Nohrt, que fuit sepultura Judeorum ejusdem ville cum edificiis ad placeam illam pertinentibus [That place with its appurtenances outside the northern gate of Northampton, which was the burial place of the Jews of the same town with the buildings pertaining to that place].

{3} A piece of engraved gravestone originally found in Princess Street in the mid C19th. The fragment of gravestone was rediscovered in Northampton Museum in 1986. It was originally one of two pieces, the other being re-used in the construction of a cellar wall during the C19th. The inscription relates to a male, possibly a rabbi, and there is an indication that the buried person had some scholarly qualification in the Talmud.

{6} C13th Jewish cemetery

{7} C13th Jewish cemetery situated outside North Gate of town, acquired from Prior Guy & the convent of St Andrew. Guy became prior in January 1259.

{10} Three articulated human skeletons revealed in trench; detailed descriptions given. No grave cuts were observed and no firm dating evidence was obtained. Systematic recovery was not possible and the recovered bone may include intrusive material from elsewhere. Up to two further skeletons were possibly present in the collapsing trench sides. Remains of an ironstone block rough coursed wall exposed along the north side of the trench, the top of which just underlay the existing kerbstone. The wall base was not identified.

{11} The tombstone may be the only example of its kind in England. It contains a Hebrew inscription, said to be in memory of a Rabbi. The tombstone at present is a large fragment of the original whole, comprising the top right hand corner. The original was obviously of good quality and would have been almost square in form. The inscription is deeply incised and the stone has a decorative edge.

{12} No further details; attached to A.Stirland's report.

{13} A large piece of a tombstone from the Northampton Jewish cemetery is now on display in Northampton Central museum.

{15} Possibly five individuals identified, three were fairly complete and found to be adults comprising 1 mature female and possibly 2 males. No tooth survival and all bones were broken post-mortem. Very little pathology; details of each individual given.

{16} Human bones of three individuals found in Anglian Water trench in Temple Bar, possibly dating to C17th or earlier, and believed to be part of a small burial ground lying outside the north gate of the medieval town.

{17} Human skeletal remains were recorded during repairs to partially-collapsed Victorian culvert in Temple Bar (SP75066118) which lay outside town's medieval defences. The burials appear to represent a previously unidentified burial ground.

{19} Radio carbon dating dated the remains to the 12th/ 13th century. Bones were reburied in Jewish section of Towcester Rd cemetery.

{26} Last year, an archaeological survey of what is now Lawrence Court, in Northampton, discovered what historians think is the site of a 12th century Jewish cemetery and evidence of a further group of burials close to those first discovered in 1992.

{27} There is some evidence that the cemetery was in use earlier than 1259. A record of Benedict the Jew seems to refer to a cemetery in Northampton by 1189. However, the source only states that he died in the town and was refused burial as either a Christian or a Jew (he had converted to Christianity and subsequently reverted to his former religion); it does not explicitly state where he was refused burial.

{28} Geophysical surveys undertaken in 2009 included resistivity and GPR survey in the gardens of Lawrence Court, immediately to the north of Temple Bar. The surveys suggested that there was considerable 19th century disturbance but that there was some evidence for the northern cemetery boundary to lay immediately north of Temple Bar. Further GPR survey along Temple Bar itself and extending eastwards into an area of private land at the junction with Maple Street suggested that there were further burials to the east and south of the known area.

{?} Medieval Jewish cemetery is mentioned in medieval property charters: the 1259 charter records that the Priory of St Andrew leased a plot of land to the Jewish community for a cemetery; the 1271 charter places the cemetery outside the North Gate of the town. Following the expulsion of the Jews in 1290 the land was maintained for agriculture and C17th maps show small enclosures to the north of the town. Comparable examples show that Temple Bar area is likely site for the Jewish cemetery.

{?} Northampton Jewry did not exist until as late as 1159, and the cemetery not until 1259. It was closed in 1290 when the Jews were expelled from England.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.382/Site 35 (checked) (Series). SNN77383.

<2> COLLINS A.J., 1945, The Northampton Jewry and its cemetery in the thirteenth century, p.151-164 (unchecked) (Article). SNN2858.

<3> Abrams J., 2003, A Field Guide: The Archaeology of Britain's Medieval Jews, (checked) (Chapter). SNN103950.

<4> Williams J.H.; Shaw M.; Hardy S., 1978-1984, Northampton Development Corporation SMR Secondary Record Sheets, M44 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN108.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP76SE12 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<7> Collins A.J., 1931, The Antiquaries Journal, p.68-70 (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN2447.

<10> Cadman, G.E., 1992, SMR Report Form, (unchecked) (SMR Report Form). SNN50158.

<11> ROBERTS M, 1992, A Northampton Jewish Tombstone 1259-90: Recently Rediscovered in Northampton Museum, p. 173-77 (checked) (Report). SNN2445.

<12> CADMAN G.E., 1994, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Note). SNN50008.

<13> ROBERTS M, 1993, The cemetery of the medieval Jews of Northampton in the Northamptonshire landscape, p. 4 (unchecked) (Unpublished Report). SNN2862.

<15> STIRLAND, 1993, Human Bone From Temple Bar, Northampton: F2 TB '92, (unchecked) (Report). SNN581.

<16> 1992, The Northampton Herald, (unchecked) (Article). SNN1558.

<17> Pike, A (ed), 1993, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (23), p.42 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN100612.

<18> FOARD G., 1995, The Early Topography of Northampton And Its Suburbs, p. 120 (checked) (Article). SNN104096.

<19> Buckingham, H., 2010, Ancient Bones Are Finally Laid To Rest, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107659.

<20> 2011, Ceremony Lays To Rest Bones Of Three Medieval Jews In The Town, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107660.

<22> Brosnan, A., 2007, Chronicle Insight: Taking Look At Jewish Past, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107662.

<23> Brosnan, A., 2006, Chronicle Insight: Unravelling Jewish History, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107661.

<24> 1987, A Hebrew Inscription in the Central Museum, (unchecked) (Extract). SNN106313.

<25> JOLLES M., 1996, A Short History of the Jews of Northampton 1159 - 1996, (unchecked) (Book). SNN74170.

<26> Jtrails, 2010, Remains of medieval synagogue uncovered under Northampton kebab shop (Website). SNN111988.

<27> Toni Griffiths, 2018, The Journey of Memory: Forgetting and Remembering England's Medieval Jews (Thesis). SNN116866.

<28> Roberts, M, 2025, Northampton Jewish Cemetery Temple Bar 2009 GPR/Geophysics Results- Summary (Note). SNN116975.

Record last edited

Jan 13 2026 1:35PM