From The Bolton News at http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/8895124.Builders_uncover_bodies_at_site/?ref=eb: > HUMAN remains have been found by builders working on a new social > housing scheme in Bolton. > > Contractors working on the Great Places and Bolton Council Westpoint > housing block in Deansgate are thought to have disturbed the burial > ground of the former St Paul’s Church, next to the site. > > Builders said yesterday that they are “uneasy” > > about continuing work on the site with the shallow graves still visible. > > Coffins and a human skull were discovered last month and were reported > to Greater Manchester Police. > > One worker, who did not want to be named, said: “We all feel a bit > uneasy about work continuing around it. > > Something should be done about them before we carry on.” > > Matthew Harrison, deputy chief executive of Great Places Housing > Group, said: “Employees of our building contractor were carrying out > re-levelling work to the car park at St Paul’s Court, a converted > church, when they discovered human bones, about a metre down into the > ground. > > “Work was halted immediately and the police were called. Police took > the remains to a local funeral company. > > “Under police direction, and in liaison with the diocese, the bones > will be returned to the ground in a casket, in a Christian service > performed by a minister. The excavations will then be filled in. > > “When Great Places bought the church, we understood that no part of > the site had been used for burial. Since the discovery, we have been > told that the remains probably date from before the church was built. > > “We are sorry that these remains have been inadvertently disturbed. > Our records do not show this part of the grounds as having been used > for burial. > > “We are acting in accordance with the police and the diocese to > respectfully return the remains to the ground.” > > At the side of the former church are a number of flagstones marking > out the place where people are buried, dating from the late 1800s and > early 1900s. > > Contractors Mansell Construction — part of the Balfour Beatty group — > were not available for comment. > > St Paul’s Church was one of Bolton’s most historic churches, serving > more than 6,000 parishioners when it opened in the 1860s. > > While that end of town is now the bus station, the market and the law > courts, it used to be a warren of terraced houses. > > It became the first church in the borough to be built by public > subscription. > > Dwindling Sunday attendances meant the church closed in 2003 and was > turned into stylish apartments four years later. > > The £4 million 40-apartment block is the first part of a plan to > create 6,000 new homes in the borough over the next 12 years. > > The first tenants are expected to move in later this year.

This is not the first time that human remains have been found on or adjacent to this spot. In 2006 three skeletons were recovered by workmen developing the site, which were subsequently given a christian burial at Walmsley Unitarian Church, Egerton. Valerie On 8 March 2011 15:35, Lynne <lklein@mindspring.com> wrote: > From The Bolton News at > > http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/8895124.Builders_uncover_bodies_at_site/?ref=eb > : > > > > HUMAN remains have been found by builders working on a new social > > housing scheme in Bolton. > > >