EDO5027 - Excavations in Sherborne School grounds, Sherborne in 1903

Excavations took place in the grounds of Sherborne School during 1903. It is not clear whether this was a deliberate antiquarian venture or groundworks connected with the refurbishment of school buildings. A Roman key was found during the excavations (1) and one or more Skeletons were unearthed from beneath The Slype, in the same year. The work in The Slype was certainly connected with refurbishment (2) but it is not clear if the Roman Key was found here or elsewhere in the school grounds. The discoveries in The Slype were described as follows: ‘The bones lie thick beneath the soil hereabouts; skulls were unearthed as recently as 1964, skeletons in 1888 and 1903…the latter…was when…Wescott excavated to add a bay window to his study…then was revealed the course of Fons Limpidus which ever since has been carried in the unromantic pipe just beneath the window.’ It may be these discoveries that led to the theory that The Slype had previously served as the monk’s mortuary (2).