
Newly released photos show one of Britain's largest medieval hospital burial grounds, lying beneath a college at the University of Cambridge in southern England.

The cemetery was excavated during the refurbishment of the Old Divinity School at St John's College, University of Cambridge.

Around 1,300 people are believed to have been buried on the site between the early 13th to 15th centuries, according to research by the university's Department of Archaeology.

The cemetery was built over from the mid-17th century, but in 1877 the area was leveled for the building of the school.

There were few "grave goods" found in the cemetery, likely due to the fact that no clerics were buried there, researchers said. However they did find this jet cross -- potentially discarded because it was damaged.

Researchers said pathways around the cemetery had been carefully constructed and well-maintained.

Researchers found no evidence of coffins or even definitive evidence for the use of shrouds, again reflecting the poverty of those buried and -- until now -- hidden by history.