GORINCHEM – A disturbed cemetery has been found under the floor of the Grote Toren in Gorinchem. The first bone remains were already found on Tuesday. But it only became clear yesterday that the remains of a cemetery were hidden under the tiles. These were found during the construction of a connection for a fire extinguishing system in the tower.
Archaeological research Behind the church in Gorinchem
"“We took into account that construction workers might find a skeleton,” says municipal spokesperson Manon Ensink. “That is why an archaeologist was present when the contractor started his work.” In the past, people were buried in churches and those graves are not always recognizable anymore. “What we definitely did not expect is that the contractor would come across hundreds of bone remains. They also turned out to be completely mixed up.” This presents Gorinchem with a problem. It is customary to rebury bone remains at the site where they were found. However, the enormous quantity makes this difficult. For future work, the hundreds of bones would first have to be dug up again and put aside.
Reburied
De municipality of Gorinchem is considering re-interring the remains in a cemetery. It is suspected that the remains were buried a few centuries ago. The new building of the Grote Kerk on the Groenmarkt was consecrated in 1851. The tower – also known as Sint Janstoren in the vernacular – dates from the fifteenth century.
Anja Broeken
January 17, 2008
AD Rivierenland