UK Hythe Crypt

At St Leonard’s church above the town of Hythe, there is a crypt with a collection of skulls on shelves. It contains 1,022 skulls and another stack of skulls and bones 7.5m by 1.8m wide. Historians have estimated that the remains of at least 4000 people lie inside. There are many theories as to why the bones are there but no evidence of what is correct. It could be said that they are the bodies of Danish pirates, men who fell in the Battle of Hastings or perhaps as a result of the Black Death, but most plausible is that they were residents of Hythe who had been buried in the cemetery and had since been exhumed and collected in the crypt. They now make an interesting collection and are visually very impressive. Great care is taken to preserve them so people can continue to view them and wonder at their history.