Monument record MDO19508 - Human burials discovered beneath The Slype, Sherborne Abbey during 1888, 1903 and 1964

A number of human skeletons were unearthed from beneath The Slype, Sherborne Abbey during 1888, 1903 and 1964. These discoveries may have led to the suggestion that The Slype had previously served as the monk's mortuary. However, subsequent excavation in 1974-6 unearthed nine burials of which three were though to date from the 7th-8th centuries (before the construction of the Slype). These later excavations also unearthed a late medieval pit containing human bones.

A number of human skeletons were unearthed from beneath The Slype, Sherborne Abbey during 1888, 1903 and 1964.

'The bones lie thick beneath the soil hereabouts; skulls were unearthed as recently as 1964, skeletons in 1888 and 1903…the latter…was when…Wescott excavated to add a bay window to his study…then was revealed the course of Fons Limpidus which ever since has been carried in the unromantic pipe just beneath the window.' (1)

It may be these discoveries that led to the theory that The Slype had previously served as the monk’s mortuary (1).

Subsequently nine burials and a bone filled pit were excavated in the area of the Slype during 1974-6. three of the burials were dated by radiocarbon and thought to belong to a 7th-8th century cemetery, the bone filled pit dated from the later medieval period (2).

<1> Gourlay, A B, 1971, A history of Sherborne School, p.305, footnote 2 (Monograph). SDO10270.

<2> Keen, L, and Ellis, P, 2005, Sherborne Abbey and School, pp. 9 & 21 (Monograph). SDO10263.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 1:08PM