Last week, Wadham College, hit the news with the discovery of bones within the college grounds. The Oxford University college was cordoned off after builders dug up a human skeleton a day after a bullet casing was also found nearby.
The intact skeleton was found in Wadham College last Wednesday (23rd January) lying in a burial position close to 400-year-old buildings. College staff contacted the police, who in turn taped off the site as a potential crime scene.
The intact skeleton was found in Wadham College last Wednesday (23rd January) lying in a burial position close to 400-year-old buildings. College staff contacted the police, who in turn taped off the site as a potential crime scene.
However, the case is not being treated as suspicious. Thames Valley Police said it was believed the remains are at least 100 years old and the bullet casing was unconnected.
Archaeologists have been excavating, recording and removing the human remains. It is thought the remains may be linked to a medieval Augustinian priory that occupied part of the site where the college now stands. A college source told The Independent: “The provisional assessment is that the bones are very old. Certainly, they appear to be so – they are very yellowed and crumbly. The contractors found the skeleton lying lengthwise as if it had been placed in a shroud or a coffin..."
A day after the first skeleton was found, bones from a second skeleton was discovered. Again, these bones are thought to be connected to the medieval priory. Not quite a case of Oxford's famous detective, Inspector Morse.
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