Project News

The bones of early Medieval bishops and royals are being reinterred in the six mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral after more than a decade of painstaking work.

Begun in 2012, the Mortuary Chests Project is one of the longest and most ambitious research initiatives at the Cathedral in modern times, and has involved the expertise of many specialist academics, conservators, staff and volunteers.

The arrangement of individuals into chests has been based first on their radiocarbon dates. Individuals dating from a similar period will be interred together in the same chest.

The history of the mortuary chests predates the chests themselves. The human remains contained within each chest can be traced to the 7th-12th centuries.

Many of the remains are believed to have been originally buried in the Anglo-Saxon Old Minster, which stood on the site adjacent to the present cathedral. The remains have been traditionally ascribed to early medieval royals and bishops.

The names given in Latin on the sides of the six existing chests are: Cynegils, Cynewulf, Ecgbert, Aethelwulf, Eadred, Edmund, Cnut, William Rufus, Bishop Wine, Bishop Alwine, and Queen Emma. However, it is likely the remains of other early medieval individuals not listed are also contained within the chests.

The project’s findings on the likely individuals interred in the chests – expected later this year – will be highly significant in the fields of archaeology, history and genetics.

Winchester Cathedral Curator, Eleanor Swire, says: “This project demonstrates the combined power of science, the study of human remains and historical research to discover new information about the six mortuary chests and their occupants which would not have been available to us a generation ago.”

Winchester Cathedral has permission to commission two new chests to house some of the bones. Further details of this process will be published in the summer of 2026.

By 2027, our project to unlock the mystery of our mortuary chests will reach its conclusion after more than 15 years of intensive research. 

This is one of the longest and most ambitious research initiatives at Winchester Cathedral in modern times and has involved the expertise of many specialist academics, conservators, staff members and volunteers. 

The academics at the heart of this research are Dr Heidi Dawson-Hobbis and Professor Kate Robson Brown. Please direct any related enquiries for Dr Dawson-Hobbis and Professor Robson Brown to Lucy Rouse in the first instance. 

The project’s findings will be highly significant in the fields of archaeology, history and genetics, demonstrating the combined power of science, the study of human remains and historical research to discover new information about the six mortuary chests and their occupants which would not have been available to us a generation ago. 

Permission is now being sought from the Cathedrals Fabric Commission to reinter bones in Winchester Cathedral’s mortuary chests. 

Notices around the Cathedral are part of our standard application process to the Cathedrals Fabric Commission who will review and consider our application for this work. 

A spokesperson for Winchester Cathedral said: “The Mortuary Chests Project is one of the longest and most ambitious research initiatives at the Cathedral in modern times, and has involved the expertise of many specialist academics, conservators, staff and volunteers. 

“First begun in 2012, the project’s findings – which will be published in 2026 – will be highly significant to the fields of archaeology, history and genetics, demonstrating the combined power of science, archaeology and historical research to unlock new information about the chests and their occupants. Proposals for the reinterment of the bones recovered from the chests have been submitted to the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England for review.”