The Grange Burial Site
When William Davis made an application to build at The Grange one of the conditions was that an archaeological excavation was carried out and this was undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology in 2006/7. Rothley is known as an area of Roman settlement and the remains of a Roman villa were discovered when the Great Central Railway was built.
The Grange is next door to the graveyard of the Parish Church and an area known for Roman finds.
Work started in September 2005 and continued into 2006 and a Christian Saxon cemetery was discovered and also Roman rubble. The remains of over 145 burials were discovered but there could have been at least 160 burials.
The results were published in June 2011 as the 'Archaeological Excavation at The Grange, Rothley, Leicestershire March-June 2007' by Tim Upson-Smith.
All the human remains were removed for analysis and it is hoped to re-bury them in Rothley at a future date. In April 2012 there is still no news about this.
In October 2013 I decided to find out what was happening to the bones and their re-burial in Rothley. It was confirmed that they are currently held at Southampton University in the hope that new technology will discover more about these bones as they are an important find dating to Saxon times. No date is therefore given to their release for re-burial. In 2015 the remains were at Southampton University.
1883 map showing the extent of the Parish Churchyard in pink with the location of the Saxon Burial Ground in green
The main trench was dug behind the old Barrow RDC computer block which is now Clare Court. June 2006
Looking from the other direction. The old Cider Press to the front. June 2006
Remains of a burial. June 2006
Bone fragments along the trench. June 2006
Bone fragments along the trench. June 2006
Recording the finds. June 2006
Evidence of slates in the trench. Remains of a path? June 2006
Recording more finds. June 2006
Part of a trench still being excavated. June 2006
More evidence of burials. June 2006
Brian Verity, Archaeological Heritage Warden for Rothley discussing the finds with Northamptonshire Archaeology. June 2006
Flint found at the Burial Site 28th June 2006
Clare Court now stands on the Medieval Burial Ground at The Grange. 2011
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