Notes & Queries Archive
REPLY1850

CATACOMBS AND BONE-HOUSES

By J. T. (Syndenham)

Without attempting to answer the queries of MR. GATTY, (No. 11. p. 171.) I venture to send a note on the subject. I believe it will generally be found that the local tradition makes such collections of bones to be "the grisly gleanings of some battlefield." One of the most noteworthy collections of this kind that I have seen is contained in the crypt of Hythe Church, Kent, where a vast quantity of bones are piled up with great regularity, and preserved with much care. According to a written statement suspended in the crypt, they are the relics of Britons and Saxons slain in a battle fought on…

Topics: Catacombs, Bone-Houses, Local Traditions, Battlefield Relics

Locations: Hythe Church, Kent, Lewes