Ninety-two human
skeletons have been found on the site of a medieval church in Oxford.
Archaeologists made the
discovery near Abingdon during an evaluation which was carried out as part of a
planning application for a new hotel.
Paul Murray, from John
Moore Heritage Services, described the discovery of the burials as "amazing".
Apparently by 1445
there were only seven nuns in the priory, the building was in a state of
collapse and the nuns were not behaving as expected - they were eating meat
every day, three lay women were boarding at the priory, and a Cistercian monk
frequently visited and drank with the prioress!
Over the next 80 years a variety of other scandals were uncovered
including unauthorised priestly visits, illegitimate children, embezzlement and
violence. In 1525 the prior was dissolved.
History, of course doesn’t record details of the good things which were
accomplished by the nuns during the Priory’s 400 years – but I imagine that, on
balance, they out-weigh the bad things!
The priory became a
farmhouse (Minchery farmhouse) and then a pub (The Priory), which closed in
2013.
 |
Gillian Argyle, from
Oxford Civic Society
|
Back in 2014 a campaign
was launched to save the building which was once again in a state of near
collapse with responsibility for the lease lying with the owners of a nearby
football stadium. It seems that a plan
is now a-foot to develop the site.
According to the recent
excavations, some of the burials are unusual and include a woman found in a
face down position, another who was a victim of blunt force trauma to the back
of the head, and a stillborn child – all of which matches with the descriptions
above of inappropriate behaviour!
All of the skeletons
will eventually be re-buried in consecrated ground.
Further information on
Littlemore Priory can be found by following these links:
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