Description
The Ossuary has the largest and best preserved collection of ancient human skulls and bones in Britain and is a fascinating collection. This Ossuary, a bone store, more commonly found on the continent, is conservatively considered to contain 1,000 skulls and 8,000 thigh bones dating from the medieval period. They were probably stored to make way for new graves which were common in England at the time. One of only two surviving ossuaries in England with its ossuary contents still intact, as usually the bones were dispersed, so this is a rare collection.
The church believes that they are Hythe residents who had been buried in the churchyards and whose remains were dug up in the 13th Century when the church was extended.
Opening Hours
Easter Weekend and 1st May onwards 2022.
Monday to Saturday
11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
Sunday
2pm-4pm.
Price
Adult: £3
Child: £.50.
Advisory Notes
It may be possible to arrange for the crypt to be opened to visitors at a special request.
Picture Credit: © The Parish of St Leonard.
