10th May 1957
VALUABLE INFORMATION

Three weeks of excavations, which ended on the site of the Priory of St. John, Monkhill, Pontefract, on Saturday, yielded much valuable information. Mr. C.V. Bellamy, of the University of Leeds, has been in charge of the operations, which arose from a tutorial class in archaeology at Pontefract, organised by the local branch of the Workers Educational Ass, and provided by the Extra-Mural Dept of the University. At the end of three winter sessions there was need for practical experience and the Pontefract Town Council agreed that work might be undertaken on the Priory site.

It was hoped that the work would serve three purposes by giving members of the class field experience; beginning the task of preparing a plan of the Priory buildings; and stimulating interest in the site in the hope that something might be done to uncover and preserve the ruins and display them as a town feature. In a report given to ‘The Express’, Mr. Bellamy says that the work involved the removal of turf and rubble to expose the lines of standing walls, making shallow trenches at strategic points to detect hidden walls, and measuring and planning the walls to build up a general plan. One trench was dug to full depth to learn something of the make-up of successive floor levels and to recover pottery and other objects at various depths.

Two skeletons found on the site were mentioned in last weeks ‘Express’ and a third was found yesterday week in the south transept of the church, in a roughly made stone grave. It was a "crouch burial" - knees up to the chin, and lying on its right side. The skeleton was of an individual about 45 years old, and five feet five inches high, and probably dated from the siege of the Castle rather than from monastic times. It was a complete skeleton, and in much better condition than those found earlier.

Several hundred fragments of pottery and many pieces of painted glass also have been found and they will be the subjects of expert study during the next few weeks. Pieces of carved stonework have already been handed to the Council, including a door lintel of pleasing design and a small corbel with a carved female head was recovered from neighbouring land by a local resident. It probably came originally from the Priory, and has joined the other stones.

Much local interest has been aroused and Mr. Bellamy and his workers are grateful to those who have helped and those who lent photographs and contributed personal recollections of the 1932 excavations. Many people expressed regret that it was proposed to re-bury the walls, but Mr. Bellamy says they will welcome, as do the excavators, the report that the Town Council is to ask the Ministry of Works for aid in fully recovering the Priory.

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