Thousands of souls were laid to rest in the Bone Crypt of Holy Trinity Church in Rothwell, a site that holds one of the most remarkable collections of human remains in England, writes MARK EGERTON
A bone crypt lies under Holy Trinity Church in Rothwell, Northamptonshire.
Legend tells of a grave digger in 1700 who, while digging a fresh grave, suddenly tumbled backwards eight to 10 feet down into a dark abyss.
Fortunately, the grave digger escaped any physical injuries, but the huge pile of bones that broke his fall scarred him mentally for the remainder of his life.
Until this incident, nobody was even aware that these bones existed, let alone where they had come from.
Of course, there were various theories: Danes slain in battle by the Saxons, the remains of soldiers killed in the nearby battlefields of Naseby and Bosworth, and victims of the Great Plague, to name just a few.
However, with the aid of modern science, all of these theories have since been debunked.
It is thought that the bones are actually those of local people from Rothwell and the surrounding parishes, who were exhumed and then placed in the crypt to free up space in the cemeteries to allow fresh burials.
It is believed that the remains of around 2,500 people are here, but predominantly only their larger bones (skulls and femurs) were placed in the crypt.
There are also a few animal bones mixed in, including horse, deer, cow and sheep. The ratio of males to females is around 50/50.
You will notice that some of the bones appear to be of a darker colour.
This is thought to be due to a difference in age and also the surrounding soils (acidity) from where the bones were originally dug up.
As for their age, some of the skulls have been C14 radiocarbon dated. They are predominantly from the 12th, 13th and early 14th centuries.
However, a small number were found to be from the 17th and 18th centuries.
One of these later skulls has undergone a craniotomy, and it is thought they were probably placed here by a local medical school looking for a cheap and easy way to dispose of them.
The church is predominantly 12th/13th century, and according to the staff, it is not haunted.
However, the staff did draw my attention to a photo of the crypt door, which seems to house the apparition of a previous vicar.
Sadly, I don’t have a copy of this image, but I have to say the photocopy that I was shown was pretty convincing.
I’ve been in a few crypts in my time, but never one quite so full as this particular one!
Have you ever visited Holy Trinity Church in Rothwell? Share your experiences or thoughts on the crypt in the comments section!
Author MARK EGERTON saw a ghost when he was teenager and he hasn’t seen one since. But that hasn’t deterred him from a life of investigating the paranormal in the towns and villages of the historic county of Huntingdonshire, near Cambridge. Mark’s The Haunted History of Huntingdonshire is the result of his life-long passion to write a book about the county which became extinct with boundary changes in the 1970s. Buy The Haunted History of Huntingdonshire on Amazon: https://amzn.to/31tRJLY
