A Roman coffin in West Yorkshire? ...

It was on a date which occurs only every four years that members of the Forest of Galtres Society heard about a fascinating discovery which was made in 2022. 29th February only occurs in a Leap Year, and that was the magical date of the lecture.

It is quite normal for an archaeological excavation to take place prior to development, if initial studies show promise.

The audience which gathered to hear a talk about the discoveries made on a site which had not promised very much was regaled with many images of what Kylie Buxton’s team, actually found.

Kylie had been leading the excavation, as Excavation Project Officer, for Archaeological Services for WYAS.

She was so excited to be able to tell her audience about a dig which was, for her, the best site she had ever dug, and which site gave up such unexpected items so very close to the surface.

Kylie was delighted to find she knew some in the audience - always a help.

Kylie’s talk was entitled ‘Excavations at Garforth: high status Roman burial & The Kingdom of Elmet’.

Literally just below the topsoil, about a metre (3ft) down, in a material very stony and unpromising in appearance the archaeologists soon found they had a considerable amount of work to do.

They were finding burials with small metal items; buckles, pins, knives, and skeletons laid out in shallow, parallel, trenches. The burials were so numerous.





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