Bones found in pub could be remains of English saint

A collection of bones discovered in a pub in Wales could be the remains of St John Plessington, a Catholic priest who was hanged, drawn and quartered and later canonised as martyr.

Credit: Catholic News Agency

The bones, which include part of a skull and leg, were found more than 100 years ago wrapped in a bundle of 17th century clothing and hidden inside an old trunk in the Old Star Inn, a pub in the village of Holywell in Flintshire. While the bones have long been assumed to be the remains of “anonymous martyrs”, new tests by forensic pathologists indicate that they are likely to be those of St John Plessington, as reported by the Catholic News Agency. 

St. John Plessington was charged with being a Catholic priest and was executed by being hanged, drawn, and quartered in Chester in 1679. The executed priest was later canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the “40 English martyrs”, who were put to death in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to give up their Catholic faith following the Reformation. It’s known that the pub had served as a secret headquarters for the Jesuits, which made it likely that the bones discovered there were those of murdered Catholics.

It was thought his remains were buried in a grave in the village of Burton on the Wirral. However this was ruled out in 1962 when scientists exhumed these remains and discovered a much younger man.

A more recent study concluded that a large hole in the skull was consistent with having been impaled on a spike after the person was beheaded, with other signs to indicate the bones were of someone that had been hung, drawn and quartered.

The Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Rt Rev Mark Davies,is now backing an appeal to raise funds to carry out DNA testing in an attempt to resolve the mystery.

“By his faithfulness to the point of death, St John Plessington stands out as the great witness to the priestly life and mission in Shrewsbury Diocese”, the bishop told the Shrewsbury Catholic Voice.

“As one of England’s 40 martyrs he points to the long continuity of our Catholic faith and our unswerving loyalty to the See of Peter. If funds could be found to identify and authenticate his relics it would allow our connection to his heroic ministry and martyrdom to become visible and tangible in a new way for generations to come.”