HS2: 50,000 bodies 'to be exhumed' for high speed rail link St James Gardens, a consecrated former church burial ground in Euston, central London, will need to be dug up so the High Speed 2 rail link can be built. The centrepiece of the gardens is reportedly a grade II-listed cast-iron drinking fountain on an octagonal base. A plaque at the entrance records its opening as a public garden and how it was maintained by the former St Pancras Borough Council. The government also wants demolish hundreds of council homes and dozens of buildings in the area to create a new gateway to Euston in what has been billed as the "largest development ever seen in London." The £33 billion project will see trains travelling at speeds of up to 250mph through the Chilterns, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. On Thursday night, a HS2 spokesman said it was "really too early" to say how the project would deal with the graves. He added: " (We are) working on the detailed design of the station and we can look at this and other local issues through our community forums and stakeholder engagement programme."