Aplague pit is the informal term used to refer tomass graves in which victims of theBlack Death were buried. The term is most often used to describe pits located inGreat Britain, but can be applied to any place wherebubonic plague victims were buried.[citation needed]
The plague which swept acrossChina,Middle East, andEurope in the 14th century is estimated to have killed between one-third and two-thirds ofEurope's population.[1][2][3] Disposal of the bodies of those who died presented huge problems for the authorities, and eventually the normal patterns of burial and funerary observance broke down.[citation needed]
Plague pits were used especially often during major plague outbreaks, such as theLondon epidemic of 1665. Graveyards rapidly filled and parishes became strained; for example the number of deaths in the parish ofSt Bride's Church, Fleet Street, in 1665 was almost six times normal.[4]