Monument record 0989600000 - Former football ground, Buckingham Road

Probable post-medieval ditch or pit and human skeleton found during evaluation trial trenching carried out in April and May 2009 by Foundations Archaeology in advance of proposed residential redevelopment of former football ground. The ditch or pit was only partly excavated, had a gently sloping side and was aligned NNE-SSW and the fill included finds of undiagnostic post-medieval brick and tile. A human skeleton was found and remains in-situ. It was aligned roughly E-W with the head to the E and appeared to be lying on its left side. Only the skull, mandible, top of the ?right scapular, humerus and clavicle were exposed within Trench 3. A fragment of skull was recovered and radio-carbon dated to the early 13th century. No trace of a grave cut was identified and it is suggested that the skeleton may represent a stray casualty of mischance, mischief or possibly battle. A number of possible palaeochannels and natural pools were identified in trenches 1, 3 and 4. See report for detail (B1).
NGR to Trench 3.
Subsequent excavation by Albion Archaeology between December 2024 and February 2025 found part of a medieval execution cemetery situated beside the earlier palaeochannel. 17 graves containing at least 28 individuals were identified, along with the remains of two skeletons recovered as disarticulated deposits within later features (a pit and a modern service trench). The individuals were buried in a variety of positions, many with their wrists bound behind their backs and with some evidence that they were buried hastily and with little care. Nearly all were adult men, who exhibited a range of distinctive and atypical pathologies. Few artefacts were found, but include fragments of coarse, possibly hemp rope in two burials and a wooden toggle or peg in another burial. See report for detail (B2).