RIPON, ENGLAND—The Herald Scotland reports that a team of researchers from the National Trust, the University of Bradford, Geoscan Research, and Mala Geoscience used ground-penetrating radar to find more than 500 graves, holding as many as 2,000 bodies, in rows curving out from the east of the church at Fountains Abbey. The monastery, located in North Yorkshire, was built in the early twelfth century, and closed in 1539 under Henry VIII. During the Victorian era, workmen uncovered some of these graves, and reported that they found several tiers in each. The new study agrees that the monks were buried in “bunk beds,” or graves separated by stone partitions, perhaps in order to protect them from damage during later burials. The monks may have believed that it was important to preserve their physical remains for resurrection on the Christian Day of Judgment. For more, go to “Legends of Glastonbury Abbey.”
