Haverfordwest Dyfed archaeological dig: 307 bodies found

Dyfed Archaeological Trust has finally completed its excavations at the old Ocky White centre on the town’s Bridge Street.

The trust was allowed in when Pembrokeshire County Council began work on the new food market being built in the centre of the town, and as soon as Ocky’s was knocked down and a shovel hit the dirt, skeletons were found – and lots of them!

Site manager for the dig, Andrew Shobbrook, confirmed that 307 skeletons have been found, with roughly 50 per cent of them being children.

The news comes as the trust released its latest finds - a replica pewter bowl and patterned dish found in the thousand-year arms of one of the burials, believed to be a priest.

After finally completing the dig, which has gone on for over six months, Andrew said the wealth of information found will be invaluable in painting a picture of Haverfordwest’s past.

“It’s amazing,” Andrew told the Western Telegraph. “It will show information about the medieval population of the town.”

Ancient shield designs have been found printed on pieces of tiles (Image: Dyfed Archaeological Trust)

• Hundreds of human remains found in town's arch dig site

The latest find? A pewter dish and chalice! (Image: Dyfed Archaeological Trust)

The trust has been in search of the Priory of St Saviours, dating back to 1246, which was located in the town, but no-one knew exactly where.

Now trust workers believe they are close to pinb-pointing it, having found hundreds of bones.

And those bones will tell much about the history of Haverfordwest, explained Andrew.

“In the 1100s, there was a large migration of Flemish settlers to Haverfordwest so they could be part of these burials.

“The bones will tell if the burials suffered any trauma and if they suffered diseases. We will also find out where they are from.

“Isotopic analysis will tell us where a person grew up in the first years of their lives. All the information just gives us a better picture of the medieval population of Haverfordwest.”

Site manager Andrew Shobbrook said the finds are very exciting (Image: Dyfed Archaeological Trust)

Some stunning artefacts have been found (Image: Dyfed Archaeological Trust)

Extraordinarily, one-third of the remains are infants under the age of four.

And in a bizarre twist to this fascinating tale, a mysterious puncture wound was found in one of the skulls which were excavated.

Archaeologists are not sure, but they believe it could have been caused by a projectile fired at the person, with its ears seeming to have been mutilated – the first suggestion of medieval warfare in the town.

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