Archaeology work has begun as the prelude to an exciting new extension to house a visitor and heritage centre at Hull’s historic Minster, the result of a £3.9m grant from Highways England (to learn more about the grant, click here).
Now, a team from Humber Field Archaeology has started work to carefully excavate, record and reinter human remains into the Minster’s crypt, ensuring they are respectfully moved and not affected by any construction work for the new centre.
Over the coming months, the archaeology team is also planning to establish the extent of early structural remains on the site, including brick-built foundations, which were first discovered on the south side of the church in 2015 and could date back to the early 14th century.
The structural findings will also be meticulously recorded before construction of the centre begins, ensuring piling work does not affect the early foundations.
Bishop Frank White, Interim Minister at Hull Minster, said: “We are thrilled the archaeological work has now started and we are going to find out all kinds of things we didn’t know about the foundations of the Minster.
“I will be interested to see what the latest discoveries are and how they feature in the story of faith and life in the city. We are dealing with the history of people and we do that with respect and gratitude for everything we have inherited from the past”
Ken Steedman, Project Manager at Humber Field Archaeology, said the team was expected to be on-site for 16 weeks.
He added: “The present work provides an extraordinary opportunity to further examine these early structures and to more fully establish their date, survival and extent, with the potential to contribute a great deal to knowledge of the history and development of this important church, a Grade I listed building of national significance.”
Matthew Armitage, Highways England Project Manager, hopes the grant would help the Minster build on its growing success as hub for the community, venue for cultural and social events and visitor destination, saying: “The great thing about our Designated Fund programme is that we can grant money for projects outside of our traditional schemes, helping protect historic features in areas near to our major roads.
“The grant for Hull Minster will transform the church and I think people will be very excited by what they see at the church in the future.”