At least 11 human skeletons have been unearthed during refurbishment of a major city centre roundabout in Peterborough. The remains were found by construction workers digging up the Queensgate roundabout, prompting police to attend in case the site was a crime scene.
Victorian cemetery identified
After no criminal link was found, an archaeologist was brought in to examine the skeletons. They were identified as part of a Victorian cemetery that existed between Peterborough railway station and the Queen Street Iron Works, now a modern-day shopping centre. The cemetery was closed for burials in 1858 and the site was cleared in the 1970s.
Peterborough City Council said: 'A total of 11 skeletons have been discovered so far on land within the Queensgate roundabout. Since the discovery, the contractors have increased site security.'
Delays and further searches
The council added: 'These remains are part of a cemetery which existed on this site in the Victorian period and was closed to new burials in 1858. Records show that remains from this cemetery were cleared when subways were built at the roundabout during the 1970s.'
'The speed at which we were digging has had to slow down, so we don’t damage any remains. This may mean a delay of four weeks. We are looking at options to reduce this delay in later phases of the project and will announce any timetable updates in due course.'
Archaeologists are currently searching the area for any more skeletons. The remains will be reburied in another Church of England cemetery in the city, the council said. It said these skeletons were not found previously during the 1970s clearance because of the construction level, while the latest redevelopment goes deeper into the ground.
Other archaeological finds
Elsewhere, the HS2 construction has become a treasure trove for archaeological findings. In Buckinghamshire, where the controversial Chiltern Tunnel is, experts dug up a Roman mausoleum, a Norman church near Stoke Mandeville built shortly after the Norman Conquest, a Neolithic stone circle similar to Stonehenge and an Anglo-Saxon burial site in Wendover.
