St Patricks Chapel Who Was Buried Here!!

Perched on the edge of a windswept cliff in Lancashire are some of the most unusual and eerie ancient carvings in Britain. In this video we journey along the English coast at Heysham to explore the ruins of St Patrick's Chapel and the infamous rock-cut graves that overlook Morecambe Bay. Carved directly into the solid bedrock over a millennium ago, these distinctly body-shaped "graves" have baffled people for centuries. They're so iconic and atmospheric they even featured on the album cover of Black Sabbath's greatest hits vol 2, but when you look closely at their shallow depth and unusual proportions, a much more fascinating historical reality emerges. If these 11th-century cliffside graves weren't made to hold bodies... what exactly were they for? St Patrick's Chapel is a ruined building that stands on a headland above St Peter's Church, in Heysham, Lancashire, England (grid reference SD409616). It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The ruin dates from the 8th or 9th century, and is built of sandstone rubble. The plan is a plain slightly tapering rectangle measuring 27 feet 6 inches (8 m) by 9 feet (3 m). Consolidation work was carried out in 1903 using stone tiles. Most of the south wall, the east gable wall, and the east part of the north wall are still present. The south wall contains a doorway with long-and-short jambs and an arch with concentric grooves. Near the chapel is a group of six rock-cut tombs from the 11th century and a separate group of two rock-cut tombs. Each group is listed at Grade I, and each tomb has an associated socket probably intended for a timber cross. They featured on the cover of Black Sabbath's 2000 album The Best of Black Sabbath. In 1977 an excavation took place in and to the south of the chapel, which dated the site to the late 6th or early 7th century. This links the site to early Celtic Christianity when local people spoke native British. The buried skeletons uncovered were dated as no earlier than the 10th century. A further excavation took place in April 1993 on land below the stone coffins. No human bones were found but more than 1,200 artefacts were recovered, which showed that the site had been occupied about 12,000 years ago. Holes behind the graves are for celtic/cross's as depicted on the narrative board. Stone coffins, often called sarcophagi, have been used throughout history by various cultures primarily for the wealthy, nobility, and high-ranking clergy to ensure prestigious, durable burials. Key users of stone coffins included: Pharaohs and the upper classes used stone sarcophagi (sometimes made of alabaster or other precious stones) to protect the body for the afterlife. They were frequently used in the 18th-20th dynasties to enclose inner wooden or metal coffins. The Ancient Romans used stone coffins extensively (43 AD - 410 AD). These were often adorned with carvings and used for prominent community members, with specialized carved marble sarcophagi appearing later. Medieval Europeans (5th-13th Centuries) In Britain and France, stone coffins became a popular choice for high-status burials in churches and monasteries, often featuring a tapered shape with a rounded head for the occupant. Clergy and Nobility, Bishops, Abbots, and Lords were commonly buried in stone coffins, often placed beneath the church floor or above ground as carved chest tombs. Cultural Benefactors were wealthy individuals or patrons of religious institutions were often honored with stone burials. #exploring #hiddenhistory #oldworld #exploringhistory #stonegraves #stpatricks #buried #stonecoffins #strangehistory #grade1 #history #exploring #8thcentury #9thcentury #oldtown #blackburndrifter #historicbuildings #historicalarchitecture #heritagesite #sacredhistory #oldabbey #ancienthistory #heyshambhubaba #countryside #landmarks #travelhistory #ancientarchitecture #medievalera#oldworld #hospital #oldbuildings #oldbuilding #historicabbey #architecturephotography #timelessarchitecture #stonechurch #architecturaldetails #historicdesign #artandarchitecture #morecambe #monastery #gravestone #gothic #ghost #blacksabbath #haunted #church #ancientchapel #chapel #churches #chapels