The undercroft (or vaults) beneath the church were largely
unused until 1803, when the Vestry decided to allow bodies
to be buried there. This decision was made in an attempt to
reduce the number of burials taking place in St George’s
burial ground (situated north of the church, close to what is
now Coram Fields), which the Vestry feared would soon be
full. By 1844, many coffins deposited in the undercroft were
so decayed that they had to be bricked up in a side vault, and
after 1856, no further bodies were buried beneath the church.
The funeral monuments inside the church all relate to
individuals buried in the undercroft. The most ornate
memorial, located by the west tower entrance, is that of
Charles Grant, Chairman of the East India Company and
friend of William Wilberforce.
During the restoration of St George’s, an initial survey of the
undercroft suggested that it contained approximately 300
coffins. In fact, the final total was closer to 900. Each was
reverently disinterred and their contents reburied in a marked
plot in St Pancras and Islington cemetery.
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