Guildhall Restoration | Project Update and Archaeological discoveries
Posted on 07/07/2020 6:57:54 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Last spring, York's Guildhall found itself in dire straits. Water dripped from the 15th-century meeting hall's ceiling, and cracks in one of its walls were so large that visitors could stick a hand straight through them, reported David Dunning for local radio station Minster FM at the time.
That fall, the local government launched a £16.5-million construction project aimed at restoring the historic building -- which has stood on the banks of the River Ouse in the northeastern English city for more than 500 years -- to its former glory. But the work has revealed more than just dilapidated walls: Per a statement, excavations have also unearthed some surprising archaeological finds.
Among the most significant discoveries are human remains buried in what may have been a graveyard attached to a medieval Augustinian friary. Thought to represent six individuals, the bodies were buried facing east to west, as is common in the Christian tradition, reports Chloe Laversuch for the Yorkshire Post.
The Guildhall has served as the seat of local commerce since its construction in 1445, according to the York Museums Trust. During the 15th century, the city's guilds, or organizations of skilled artisans and merchants, used the space for meetings. Yorkist king Richard III visited the building during his brief reign; a century later, the Guildhall hosted the trial of Margaret Clitherow, a Catholic martyr who was pressed to death in 1586.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
Bkmk
The story of Margaret Clitherow is chillingly sobering. Here is the description of being 'pressed to death'
She was stripped and had a handkerchief tied across her face then laid across a sharp rock the size of a man's fist, the door from her own house was put on top of her and loaded with an immense weight of rocks and stones so that the sharp rock would break her back. Her death occurred within fifteen minutes, but her body was left for six hours before the weight was removed.Wait until the Democrats discover this method of punishment... Yikes!
Clitherow sounds like a woman who would have held Mass in her house despite the orders. What would a Murphy or Cuomo or Newsom do to her today?
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