WORCESTERSHIRE’S County Council’s Archive and Archaeology Service has launched a mini blog series uncovering the mystery of the body found near the Bromyard railway line.
In the summer of 2021, near the former Worcester, Leominster, and Bromyard Railway, a human skeleton was uncovered on the embankment.
Constructed in the mid-1860s, the Bromyard line once thrummed with railway activity until its closure in the 1960s.
However, by 2021, all that remained visible in the fields close to the village of Leigh, west of Worcester, was the earthwork of the former embankment that once carried a narrow lane over the railway.
Ancient human remains are usually found as part of an organised archaeological excavation, but just occasionally they are a surprise – graves left undisturbed for centuries, long forgotten and found again by accident.
When this happens, it can feel a bit like solving a puzzle in a murder mystery novel, trying to work out how someone died and became buried in such an unusual place.
Coun Karen May, cabinet member for communities at Worcestershire County Council, said: “It is like opening a treasure chest of Worcestershire’s history and diving into an exciting mystery.
“With each daily instalment, readers will uncover fresh insights, explore scientific analyses, and make discoveries that will keep them eagerly awaiting the next post.”
For the past three years, the Explore the Past team has unravelled this captivating case, piecing together clues to shed light on the mystery.
Visit https://www.explorethepast.co.uk/project/the-body-on-the-bromyard-line/ for more information on the case.
