31/08/2026
The recent hot weather has revealed a piece of history hidden beneath the Cathedral lawns
The Cathedral lawns were once a graveyard, enclosed by a stone wall and containing burials dating from 1219 to 1789. Over time, poorly designed drainage caused the ground to become waterlogged during wet periods and dry and stagnant during warmer weather, prompting the need for change.
Between 1789 and 1792, Cathedral Architect James Wyatt oversaw significant alterations to both the Cathedral and the Close. As part of this work, an underground drainage system was installed, gravestones were laid flat, and the ground was levelled to create the lawns we know today. A list of those buried was taken and put in the archive.
In 1982, a number of intriguing objects were uncovered in this area, including 38 fragments of eighteenth-century glass, part of a bottle stamped with the name "E. Grinfield" and the date 1730, and even a wild boar tusk.
Unfortunately, we do not know how the tusk came to be buried there. As it shows no signs of being worked, it may have been kept as a curiosity, piece of jewellery, or medicinal item before being lost. Also discovered was a lead shield bearing a heraldic cross, which we believe to have once decorated a headstone or coffin. Decorative metal motifs became increasingly popular between 1700 and 1850, with materials including brass, tin, silver, pewter, zinc and lead.
