St Leonard's Church Hythe: the UK's largest Collection of Bones and the Power of Medieval Purgatory

Beneath the chancel of St. Leonard's Church in Hythe England lies a hidden chamber with an extraordinary history. Originally a medieval procession route, now it is the resting place of the United Kingdom’s most extensive and well-preserved collection of human remains - Housing the bones of between 1500 and 2000 people. The place where the bones are laid is called a charnel house or an ossuary and there was a very specific change of belief that began happening in the 1200s that saw a boom in these types of structures being built. I show you the crypt and tell you all about that here....