Mystery surrounds Abergele church crypt find

Oct 22 2009

ARCHAEOLOGISTS are baffled after discovering a crypt cleared of bodies, instead finding buried remnants associated with spell-casting and fortune-telling.

After continual drainage problems, vicar of St Michael’s Church in Abergele Rev Shirley Griffiths called in experts to construct a "soakaway" to take the rainwater away.

But while digging, one of the workmen hit a cobbled stone roof, before nearly falling into a large crypt.

The church called in archaeologists from Coleg Llandrillo who dug down to find a 17ft long crypt. The diggers uncovered around 100 human bones from graves around the crypt dating back to the 1700s, as well as pottery and a burial brooch.

But unusually the chamber was empty of human remains.

Conwy County Council’s museum education office and college students were called in to investigate and it is believed the crypt dates back as far as the Victorian era.

But leading archaeologist Sian James explained that they are confused by the presence of dice made of bone, which were historically used in superstitious ceremonies.

Sian believes the crypt may have belonged to a family who cleared relatives’ remains after falling out with the church.

"There may have been a family falling out with the church at the time and the family may have moved all their family’s remains to another church," she said.

"We don’t know for sure, but they’ve taken everything out of the crypt.

"We’ve found bones of men, women and children buried around the crypt, dating back to the 1700s.

"The dice are the weirdest thing, it’s usual to find bones in a graveyard, but to find bone dice is odd.

"Bone dice were used in rituals in the way of casting and fortune telling.

"It is possible they belonged to one of the workmen or gravediggers, whether they were casting spells or just playing a game, we don’t know."

Student Gerry Cuthbert from Llanddulas added: "This is an amazing opportunity to gain real excavation experience.

"As well as the main project involving the crypt, we’re also surveying the church’s gravestones and hope to provide a full record for people to access."

Supervising archaeologist Ian Grant said: "The students have been fantastic; their enthusiasm has been a joy to behold. Though seemingly unchanging, many historic churches have witnessed constant renewal, adaptation and repair during the last thousand years or more to meet the changing needs and aspirations of their congregations. Because of this they provide a strong physical link with the past and have a fascinating story to tell about the history of the communities that built them and continue to maintain them."

The dig and excavation was a joint initiative between Elfod Heritage Group, the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and Coleg Llandrillo Abergele.