Monument record BDG 040 - Two probable Roman inhumation burials, adjacent to Church of St John the Baptist

July 1998: Following the chance discovery of human remains a small-scale excavation revealed two human burials close to the parish churchyard. The skeletons were in a supine postion with evidence that the hands had been crossed over the pelvis area in the more complete skeleton. They were orientated south-west to north-east with the head to the south-west. There was no evidenc of coffins or shrouds. It was not possible to definitively date the burials but a piece of Roman pottery was found under the right hand of one of the bodies circumstantially dating them to the Roman period. A few sherds of Roman and Anglo-Saxon pottery were recovered as unstratified finds from the topsoil along with a piece of lava quern and animal bone fragments. There were no other burials in the immediate area of the investigation (S1).