Bishopsmill School Norton : In-depth Informatioon

In 1994, during the installation of a timber fence and temporary classroom, human remains were discovered. An evaluation trench excavated a further 15 individuals, whose alignment along with the lack of grave goods strongly suggested that this population was Christian.

Subsequently, an iron strap found in association with one of the skeletons has been identified as a mid-Saxon chest fitting. In 1995 the remains of a further 4 individuals were uncovered in a nearby garden, indicating that the cemetery was much more extensive. 

No further work took place until February 2003, when extensions and refurbishment to the school enabled Tees Archaeology to excavate areas around the school and remove all human remains from the site. This work produced a total of eighty-three graves and 107 individuals, the majority of which were oriented east-west, together with a large quantity of charnel.

In four graves there were double burials and in three cases the heads were at opposite ends of the grave. We can only speculate as to what was going on in these twin graves, as it seems unlikely that partners would die at the same time. We can only speculate that the spouses decided to join their partners in death.

Some of the remains at the site were in very poor condition and this is due to a combination of extensive medieval ploughing, ploughing during the Second World War (when the land was used for cereal production as part of the Dig For Victory war effort), the construction of the school in the 1970s and also the acidic nature of the soil combined with the high water table.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this cemetery was the recovery of iron artefacts from several, but not all, of the graves. These take the form of small, unspectacular, hinge straps and corner brackets from wooden chests. Some of these clearly possessed locks as an iron key was also found at the foot of one of the bodies.

In life each person would have had a wooden chest to store their personal possessions, the belongings being divided up upon their death and the chest used as their coffin. Chest fittings such as those found at Bishopsmill School are relatively rare and the nearest examples previously found were at Ripon and York, in Yorkshire.

In 1984, a Pagan Anglo Saxon Cemetery containing 120 burials was excavated at Norton. This had been in use between 550AD and 610AD. The Anglo Saxon Cemetery at Bishopsmill School dates from the acceptance of Christianity in the area in the early 600s AD and may have started at the time the Pagan Anglo Saxon cemetery went out of use continuing in use until the present church at Norton, St Mary’s, was built in the 1080s AD.

Skelton found at Bishopsmill

Bishopsmill School

Norton

Gallery

In-depth Information