Time Team

Glendon Hall, Northants - The Bodies In The Shed (13x1)

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The Bodies in the Shed - Glendon's lost graveyard. Tony and the team return for a new series, visiting Glendon Hall in Northamptonshire to unravel the mystery of the human skeletons found under an outbuilding. In November 2004 Martin Hipwell was working in the garden converting a Victorian brick shed. He had to stop rather suddenly because as he dug up the old floors he came across a whole host of human skeletons. He contacted the local unit, Northampton Archaeology, who revealed 11 burials inside one of the buildings. They removed seven sets of human remains. But in another barn the builders discovered yet more remains. They left these undisturbed and Martin got in touch with Time Team. Before Martin carried on his building work he wanted to know who these people were and where they lived. All these burials were aligned east-to-west. They were closely packed and some had been buried on top of others. The density of the burials, the orientation and the lack of finds and gravestones suggested that these were the graves of medieval Christian peasants. Bone analysis indicates that these people suffered from lives of hard labour and poor nutrition. Could they have been inhabitants of the lost medieval village of Glendon? And what happened to Glendon's church dedicated to St Helen? Could the piles of old architectural stonework in the garden be a clue?