The remains of a pre-term infant found at Chichester Cathedral ahead of planned building work have been re-interred in a special burial service.
The discovery was made in 2024 during work to upgrade the lighting in the Cathedral treasury and gift shop. Excavations by the Cathedral Archaeologist, Dr Michael Shapland, of Archaeology South-East (UCL Institute of Archaeology), uncovered the burial of an infant laid only a few inches below the floor.
Analysis of the remains suggested an age at death between 34 and 36 weeks in utero, indicating a premature birth, and possibly that the baby was stillborn. At this age the infant was probably unbaptised, although emergency baptisms could be undertaken on living newborns, for example by midwives.
If unbaptised, as is most likely, the burial of this infant within church boundaries is highly unusual. In the Late Saxon period – and indeed beyond – such children were not permitted to be laid in consecrated ground. Sometimes, in contravention of this, they were buried around church walls so that water from the roof could drip onto them, as a form of baptism.
Radiocarbon dating of the bones has shown that the infant was buried around 1000AD. This is long before the Cathedral was even built, when the monastery of St Peter existed on the site. St Peter’s church itself has never been found.
This is an extremely rare glimpse into the monastery that existed on this site during the Late Saxon period. This tiny baby is simultaneously perhaps the oldest and the very youngest known member of the Cathedral community
Dr Michael Shapland
The Cathedral’s Canon Treasurer, the Revd Vanessa Baron, added: “It was important to us that we reburied the infant at the same site with the dignity of a burial service that was likely not possible originally. We are conscious that, a thousand years ago, someone went to great lengths to try to bury this baby within consecrated ground. By coinciding this service with Baby Loss Awareness Week, we hope that this story continues to ease the silence so often surrounding baby loss, acknowledging the grief that many carry, too often in isolation. Behind these bones lies a story of human loss shared by many people today.”
Each year the Cathedral welcomes Pregnancy Options Chichester during Baby Loss Awareness Week (9 - 15 October), when a designated safe and compassionate space is made available offering an opportunity for reflection and remembrance. Individuals and families are invited to use the space to gently honour the lives of babies lost, whether through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal death, a termination for medical reasons or post abortion, by adding a ribbon to the display and lighting a candle.
Canon Vanessa adds: “The presence of Pregnancy Options Centre, who provide free and confidential counselling support within the local area, reminds us that no one has to go through unplanned pregnancy or pregnancy loss alone, no matter how recent your loss or where you are at in the process there is always someone to talk to.”
