Farmer’s Creepy Find: Floodwaters Expose Human Bones Near Somerset Church

A farmer in Somerset found bones. Stephen Bartlett found them near a church after bad flooding as he was checking for damage. The bones were on the road, and this occurred on January 29th. Stephen is 61 years old.

Stephen recognized human bones because of his army service. He worried another flood might wash them away, so he decided to protect them. Big floods happened that weekend, and he checked for damage around the church.

He spotted what looked like a leg bone sticking out of the ground. He also saw an ulna, an arm bone. A collarbone was resting on the road too. Stephen felt he couldn’t leave them as they might wash away during the next flood.

Stephen thinks the bones came from graves, as St Mary’s Church had flooded. The River Yeo overflowed its banks, which might have disturbed the graves. He was quite alarmed by his find.

He said he was really spooked and feared finding a skull next. The road is used a lot, and it is right by the church. Stephen did not see anyone else picking them up.

He first hid the bones behind a gravestone. Police then told him to keep them safe. He kept them together at his home as the graveyard has a war grave.

It is for W J Pearce, a seaman who died July 19, 1918. The War Graves Commission is investigating, and people are “totally shocked” by the discovery that human remains floated outside the church.

Stephen served in the Balkans and confirmed the bones were human. Police asked if they were dog bones, but he said they were human bones. His army background helped him identify them.

Older church members are upset, and some even have family buried there. The flooding is getting worse, and it also seems to last longer now.