Burial vault discovered 'accidentally' at Gloucester Cathedral

Archaeologists said they did not expect to find the vault beneath the floor of the cathedral

An "extremely well preserved" family burial vault has been discovered "accidentally" at Gloucester Cathedral.

The tomb in the North Transept contains coffins belonging to the Hyett family dating from the 17th and 18th Century.

It was found by archaeologists who lifted a neighbouring ledger stone while carrying out an evaluation ahead of the installation of a new lift.

The process caused a small hole to be created which allowed the contents of the vault to be seen.

Re-deposited human remains were discovered beneath a ledger stone

Cathedral archaeologist Richard Morriss said the discovery of the 8ft (2.5m) deep chamber was unexpected.

"What you normally find when you dig up a ledger slab is earth and bones, there's nothing specific in there.

Experts say the coffins are extremely well preserved

"But we can just see into a genuine intact family vault.

"You would expect the cathedral to have been restored time and time again. The floors get churned up and re-laid, but this has stayed intact.

"The coffins are extremely well preserved, you can still see the name plates.

Archaeologists were digging in the North Transept when the discovery was made

"And the name plates actually match up with the names on the ledgers above, which is remarkable."

Mr Morriss said the family must have been "pretty wealthy" to have afforded this kind of burial vault within the heart of the cathedral.

The Reverend Canon Celia Thomson, said the discovery of the vault was "really exciting" and the discovery of a child's coffin was "particularly poignant".

Name plates on the coffins match up with names on the ledger stone above them

"You can just imagine the grief of the parents at that stage. It brings history to life," she said.

Lord Dickinson, who is a descendent, by marriage, of the Hyett family, said the discovery was "fascinating".

"Like the rest of the world I didn't know there was anything under the slab," he said.

Lord Dickinson said the discovery of the tomb was "fascinating"

Re-deposited human remains were discovered beneath the ledger stone, including a number of skulls and leg bones.

The installation of a new lift in the North Transept is part of a 10-year plan, known as Project Pilgrim, to improve facilities at the medieval building.

One of the coffins belonged to a child who died aged nine months old

The discovery of the vault will be featured on Inside Out West on BBC One on Monday 2 November at 19:30 GMT and afterwards for 30 days on the BBC iPlayer.