'Mystery' child's body found on Hereford Cathedral land

Blackleaf

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
50,026
1,916
113
The "mystery" remains of a Saxon child have been found buried on land next to Hereford Cathedral, archaeologists say.

The child, who is believed to have been aged between 10 and 12, was found buried in Hereford Cathedral Close, at the site of a possible Saxon Palace.

The discovery was made during an archaeological dig as part of a £5.4m Heritage Lottery-funded project to restore and landscape the close.

Archaeologists said it was a "mystery" as to how the child came to be there.

'Mystery' child's body found on Hereford Cathedral land

BBC News
12 May 2015


The child is believed to have been aged between 10 and 12

The "mystery" remains of a Saxon child have been found buried on land next to Hereford Cathedral, archaeologists say.

The child, who is believed to have been aged between 10 and 12, was found buried in Hereford Cathedral Close, at the site of a possible Saxon Palace.

The discovery was made during an archaeological dig as part of a £5.4m Heritage Lottery-funded project to restore and landscape the close.

Archaeologists said it was a "mystery" as to how the child came to be there.

'Buried with dignity'

"We are still investigating it," said Andy Boucher, regional manager of Headland Archaeology, which carried out the excavation.

"The child seems to have been a very poorly young person but was buried with dignity."

The excavations also revealed a possible Saxon Palace built near the cathedral between 850 and 950AD.

After the cathedral was plundered and destroyed by fire in 1055, it was rebuilt and the land nearby was used as Hereford's burial ground between the 11th and 19th Centuries.


Archaeologists say the find is a mystery


The dig was part of a £5.4m Heritage Lottery-funded project to restore and landscape the cathedral's grounds


The remains included a possible Norman knight

Thousands of remains were found, with 700 of the better-preserved burials being studied in more detail.

The remains included a possible Norman knight. A Durham University investigation revealed he had sustained leg injuries consistent with a jousting accident.

Mr Boucher said that although the dig took place between 2009 and 2011, it had taken some time to analyse the finds.

"The burials provided some fascinating information on the health and stresses of daily life in the middle ages in Hereford," he said. A number of the remains were "likely" to be Norman, he added.

"The Cathedral Close project was such a great success and we were delighted with the work," said the Dean of Hereford, the Very Reverend Michael Tavinor.

"In helping to uncover more of the cathedral's history, we have solved some mysteries, but possibly created some more."


'Mystery' child's body found on Hereford Cathedral land - BBC News
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
50,026
1,916
113
Who is this sick Saxon boy? 'Mysterious' child remains at Hereford Cathedral predate oldest burials there by 200 years

Remains are from 200 years earlier than others found at the location
There are signs of damage and sickness across the whole skeleton
'Palace-like structure' also found at the site possibly indicating a castle
Thousands of remains have been found at the site since excavation began in 2009, with the 700 best preserved being studied in more detail.

By Jack Millner For Mailonline
14 May 2015
Daily Mail

'Mysterious' remains of a boy have been found in the grounds of Hereford Cathedral that could indicate there was a Saxon palace at the site.

The skeleton is thought to date to 900 AD, which is 200 years earlier than other remains found at the location.

The original cathedral was pillaged and destroyed by fire in 1055 and then rebuilt, with the land around it being used as Hereford's burial ground between the 11th and 19th Centuries.


'The child seems to have been a very poorly young person but was buried with dignity,' said archaeologist Andy Boucher

'We dated burials at the site and they all came out at roughly 1100 AD,' Andy Boucher, regional manager of Headland Archaeology told MailOnline.

'It's remarkable that we found one from 200years earlier. We also dated a palace-like structure at the site.'

Boucher said that this find was unusual as it represents the only Saxon burial found out of more than two thousand burials unearthed so far at the site.

The discovery of a palace-like structure could indicate a castle stood at the site of the original medieval cathedral before it was built.


Archaeologists were excavating the remains at the Heritage Lottery-funded project at Hereford Cathedral (marked on the map) between 2009 and 2011 – but investigations are still ongoing into some of the more unusual skeletons, including that of the Saxon boy


The archaeological study of the location has helped to reveal much early history of the area, and the remains of a medieval Knight were found at the site in March


More wealthy individuals in the Medieval period were buried in stone coffins, pictured above. The Saxon Boy appears to have been buried in a shroud instead

'I feel very sorry for him,' Andy Boucher told MailOnline. 'There are signs of illness and sickness across the whole skeleton.'

'The child seems to have been a very poorly young person but was buried with dignity,' Boucher said.

The Saxon period saw a very fragmented society, where even the ruling elite would suffer in the event of a famine as the ruling classes had less connections around Britian, Boucher said.


Hereford Cathedral (pictured) may have been the site of a Saxon palace. The location was used as Hereford's burial ground between the 11th and 19th Centuries

So while the condition of the remains is consistent with burials of poorer people who had very bad nutrition, the body was buried 'with dignity' and in line with Christian practices of the period.

The archaeological study of the location has helped to reveal much early history of the area, and the remains of a medieval knight were found at the site in March.

The skeleton showed many jousting injuries that may have killed the knight before he was laid to rest.

Thousands of remains have been found at the site since excavation began in 2009, with the 700 best preserved being studied in more detail.

'Durham University are doing further analysis on the remains that will give us more information in the future,' Boucher said.

The findings from the project have been compiled into a book called Death in the Close: A Medieval Mystery, and will be released later this month.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom