Pair of empty tombs discovered at 900-year-old England cathedral. Whose are they?
Ahead of conservation renovations, archaeologists in England recently conducted excavations at Exeter Cathedral — and they made some of their most exciting discoveries yet at the 900-year-old building.
Cathedral officials said the team of experts focused their efforts on the Quire area of the building — the part designed to hold the church’s choir, according to Brittanica.
The latest excavations revealed “the foundations of the cathedral’s original high altar,” officials said in a July 28 news release. The altar would have been featured in the original building of the cathedral around the year 1114.
Behind the altar, the team found a “sunken area,” officials said. Archaeologists said this indicates the existence of a crypt beneath the building.
Experts think the crypt was filled in around the year 1300, but the discovery changes their previous understanding that the original cathedral was built without a crypt.
The most exciting discovery was a pair of empty tombs, according to cathedral officials. Experts believe the tombs originally belonged to bishops Robert Warelwast and William Brewer.
Warelwast, who died around the year 1155, was the nephew of the cathedral’s founding bishop, officials said. Brewer died in 1244. The bishops were likely moved from their original tombs in the Quire around 1320.
“This is surely the most exciting archaeological discovery ever made at Exeter Cathedral,” officials said.
Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral was established in 1050, but it wasn’t until 1114 that the church’s building was constructed, according to the cathedral’s website. The church continued to expand and develop between the 12th and 14th centuries.
The original cathedral was built in a Norman, or Romanesque, style, officials said. However, the building underwent a massive rebuild in the decorated gothic style between 1270 and 1350.
Exeter is about 200 miles southwest of London.
This story was originally published August 2, 2023 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Pair of empty tombs discovered at 900-year-old England cathedral. Whose are they?."
