PRESS RELEASE
Medieval Re-Interment in Ilchester on May 31
In medieval times, an Augustinian nunnery stood on the southern riverbank close to
where today's A37 crosses the River Yeo. For nearly two hundred years the nuns
attempted to follow their holy vows in addition to caring for pilgrims and travelers
passing through the town, despite being often destitute themselves, due to corruption
and misappropriation by their superiors. As was usual in the Middle Ages, members
of the order were interred in the grounds of their institution.
Many years ago, excavations in the riverbank yielded the partial skeleton of a
woman, who is believed to have been a member of the Whitehall Nunnery. These
remains were given to Ilchester Museum in 2011 and the present museum team
realised that the bones really should be re-interred in consecrated ground.
The obvious place would be the churchyard of Ilchester's medieval church but
burials in St Mary Major were terminated by act of the Privy Council in late
Victorian times, on public health grounds. More than that, there was a fundamental
need to ensure that both the police and coroner were satisfied that the bones were
indeed ancient and not subject to any need for an investigation. Once those aspects
had been satisfactory resolved St Mary's Rector, the Revd Bruce Faulkner, began a
long process of seeking higher level permissions, involving the Home Secretary, the
Justice Department and finally the Privy Council itself.
Two years later, the outcome of this process is the reburial of these remains in St
Mary Major's cemetery, at 3 p.m.on the afternoon of Trinity Sunday, May 31st. Revd
Faulkner will lead a procession from the site of the Whitehall Nunnery to the
churchyard, where the specially made casket containing the remains will be re-interred
with sacraments similar to those used for the recent reburial of Richard III in
Leicester. Anyone interested in this one-off event is welcome to join the ceremony.
For further information:
Revd Bruce Faulkner : ilchestervicar@aol.com
Mrs Sally Mottram : sally.mottram@ukgateway.net
(Ilchester Museum)
