At our breakfast meeting on 20 May we welcomed Ellie Swire, curator and librarian at Winchester Cathedral. Ellie had been invited by Rob Carter – being a friend of the Carter family.
Ellie is responsible for one of the most important projects in the history of the Cathedral. In 2012 work began on the mortuary chests which rest in the Cathedral presbytery. These chests have long been believed to contain the bones of former anglo-saxon kings – but the damage and distruction of the Civil War in 17th century meant that new chests had to be constructed, and the contents were mixed up.
Members present were intrigued by Ellie’s description of the work which is nearing completion – she showed slides of some of the items found among the bones – seeds and scraps of material. The results of the painstaking work are due to be published later this year, but Ellie was able to tell us that it is highly likely Queen Emma of Normandy (wife of King Canute) is highly likely to be on of those whose skeleton was original placed. Another mystery is that the remains examined account for more individuals than originally thought…..
