BONES found near an Ipswich church are hundreds of years old, police have confirmed.
BONES found near an Ipswich church are hundreds of years old, police have confirmed.
St Mary's at Stoke church was sealed off by police after a worker made the discovery beneath a shed in a former graveyard on July 17.
Roy Alexander, a member of the congregation, had been taking down a shed in the churchyard when he spotted the first bone.
He reported the incident to the police, who taped off the area while they dug up more bones before taking them away to conduct enquiries to determine their origin.
But after examination by scene of crime investigators, police have revealed that no criminal enquiry is needed.
Maureen Springle was at the church when the drama unfolded.
She said: “They took the bones away in a bag. Our records show there has not been anybody buried here since 1855 when the churchyard officially closed.”
The oldest gravestone in the churchyard is thought to date back to the 1600s.
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