Part of seventh skeleton discovered in city street
The £2.5m scheme will see changes made to Tombland. - Credit: Simon Parkin
Part of a seventh skeleton has been discovered during work on a multi-million pound revamp of a Norwich street.
The find follows the discovery of six skeletons during a £2.5m revamp of Tombland last month.
Workers initially discovered a skull and that led to archaeologists uncovering six skeletons on the street.
They were recorded and removed and work in the area then continued.
But Norfolk County Council has confirmed that a further partial skeleton was found close to Christmas.
The skeletons are all being stored by the council's archaeological team, who will clean them and establish a date for the finds.
A council spokesman said: “A further partial skeleton was uncovered in late December, in addition to the six originally reported on December 4.
"No further discoveries have been made since and all significant excavation work required for the project has now been completed.
Most Read
- 1 Work on McDonalds and Starbucks site 'breaks rules', councillors claim
- 2 First look inside Norfolk garden centre after £1.25m refurbishment
- 3 Date given for opening of new McDonald's
- 4 'Foolish' - Landowner could face prosecution after drilling into trees
- 5 'Vindictive' man torched couple's new home - after failing to buy it
- 6 People urged to get Covid test twice a week
- 7 No recent virus cases in more than a quarter of Norfolk and Waveney
- 8 'The nicest people shop in Lidl' - Women amazed by act of kindness
- 9 Teenager who died in motorcycle crash named
- 10 Teen who torched toilets not allowed to be drunk anywhere in Norfolk
"As before, archaeologists were already present on-site when the remains were unearthed and were able to carefully remove them.
"The police were informed and construction was able to quickly resume.
"All skeletons are being stored by our archaeological team where they will be cleaned and dated prior to all findings being reported to the city council on completion of works in the area.”
Tombland was once the main market area of Norwich, before the Normans established a new market area by the castle.
Though its name may suggest a place where burials took place, Tombland actually comes from an Old English word, derived from Danish, meaning 'empty space'.
But the scheme, funded with money from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund, has been criticised by the Norwich Cycling Campaign, who have said it will make matters worse for cyclists.
The work also sparked controversy due to the chopping down of a number of trees, which had prompted hundreds to sign a petition urging the council to rethink the plans.
The second phase of the work in Tombland started in November and is due to come to an end in March.