'800-year-old bones of monk' found on cliff

When you're taking a brisk walk along the beach the last thing you'd probably expect to find are the remains of a skeleton from hundreds of years ago!

The remains have been discovered along the cliffs at Monknash in The Vale of Glamorgan. While no-one knows officially who it is, the theories are already causing some intrigue.

James Crichton-Smith has been to investigate...

Remains thought to be 800-year-old bones belonging to a monk have been uncovered, poking out of a cliff face in the Vale of Glamorgan.

They were spotted by walker Mandy Ewington at Monknash, which was a burial ground for Cistercian monks in the Middle Ages.

Archaeologist Mr Langford said: "You can clearly see a grave has been eroded into the sea. What is fascinating is you can see the two femurs being slowly revealed as the cliffs are eroded away."

"There was a monastic community close to the area and these bones indicate a male in their late 20s who was in good health."

"I would say they belong to a monk from the 1200s, due to previous archaeological digs in the past, the depth of the bones in the cliff and the history of the area."

"He would likely be buried with nothing except two shroud rings which would have held his burial shroud in place at the head and feet."

He said the winter storms had caused large parts of the British coastline to collapse and archaeological sites were being revealed and lost to the sea.