Skeletons around 400 years old were unearthed in the Manor garden last week.

LIVING on Herm, the island’s history is always at the forefront of your mind. Especially in the remote areas like the common, it is hard not to think of all the people who have gone before and the many ancient bodies that could be there just beneath your feet.

So perhaps nobody was completely surprised by the skeletons that were accidentally uncovered in the Manor garden last week.

The grave site is just feet from the chapel, at the edge of the large garden. In the walls of the grave, other bones are clearly visible and it is apparent that other bodies lie nearby. According to the archaeologists, the skeletons are around 400 years old and in those days they would have ‘packed them in quite tightly’, implying that the entire garden could quite conceivably be a cemetery.

The larger skeleton, possibly a female, has its arms folded over its chest. The body of a child is curled around by its right hip. It seems probable that this is a mother and child who were buried together. This would suggest illness as the cause of death, but the adult skeleton has a large hole in the front of its skull. As the rest of the bones are in good condition, it isn’t too great a leap to wonder if this caused the person’s death.

The bones have been taken away for testing, which should hopefully reveal more of this fascinating story.

Of course islanders have their own theories about the origin of the skeletons. I think this could be evidence of the religious slaughter rumoured to have occurred in Bloody Mary’s [Queen Mary I, daughter of King Henry VIII] times, especially if these are only two of many buried by the church.

Other islanders have named the skeletons and dreamed up possible lives for them.

Two of the island children, eight-year-old Eden Latter and nine-year-old Elliot Knight, were so thrilled at the possibility of seeing an actual skeleton that they couldn’t wait to rush round after school and have a look. They didn’t seem too bothered when they realised that the bodies have been just under the surface while they were round there playing on the trampoline and doing PE every day.

For myself, apart from being an exciting story, it was a chance to feel that I had met someone who lived here many centuries ago when times were so different, but the island so much the same.

Once testing is completed, the archaeologists will return the bones to their grave, lay them out as they were found and rebury them. Perhaps by then, we’ll know a little more about these past island residents.