Ceremony to mark life of Melbourn’s ancestors

Villagers from Melbourn were given the chance to pay homage to their forefathers when the remains of an Anglo-Saxon ‘family’ were reburied at a special ceremony.

About 90 villagers turned out, including MP Heidi Allen and her husband, to witness the burial of a man, woman, and two children from about 600AD at New Road Cemetery.

The remains were found in a burial site back in 2000, when an archeological survey was carried out of the area.

Chairman of the parish council cemetery committee Mike Sherwen led the proceedings, followed by addresses from Corinne Duhig and Quinton Carroll, both involved in the original dig and the subsequent recording and research.

Poems and an early hymn were then read in Anglo Saxon by Nicholas Jones from Cambridge.

Reverends Duncan Goldie and Stuart Clarke from Melbourn’s Methodist and Baptist churches and Bob Tulloch, chairman of Melbourn Parish Council, also made speeches.

The gathering were then invited to throw wild flowers and herbs into the grave as an acknowledgement of their connection to the early Melbournians.

The guests then went back to the village hub for light refreshments and the opportunity to see an exhibition of some of the artefacts uncovered during the dig on loan from Cambridge County Council Historical Group.

Councillor Sherwen said: “It was a really memorable day in Melbourn’s long history.

“Hopefully we will have support for the burial of a time capsule in due course, which will mark this event amongst the many other aspects of our history.”