Eaves-drip burial facts for kids

Eaves-drip burial was a special way people in Britain buried babies and young children long ago, during the Middle Ages. They would place the graves right next to the foundations of churches in the churchyard. Similar burial customs have also been found in other parts of medieval Europe.

What is Eaves-Drip Burial?

Eaves-drip burial was a custom practiced between the 7th and 12th centuries AD across Britain. It involved burying infants and very young children right next to the walls of churches.

Archaeologists first noticed this old Christian custom during digs in Northamptonshire between 1977 and 1984. They were exploring an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at a place called Raunds Furnells. There, they found a burial area very close to the church foundation. This spot held many graves packed closely together, mostly of newborn babies and infants under one year old. Later, similar groups of infant graves were found near church walls in other medieval cemeteries.

Why Bury There?

One popular idea about why people chose eaves-drip burial comes from archaeologist Elizabeth Craig-Atkins. She suggests that people believed rain falling from the church roof became holy water. This "holy water" would then drip directly onto the graves of the babies. This might have been seen as a way to strengthen the baptism ritual after death.

In Britain, these burials show that early Christians had concerns about the afterlife. They also worried about how effective baptism was for very young children who died. The idea of placing infant graves under eaves wasn't new with the Anglo-Saxons. Ancient Roman writings also describe burying infants who lived less than forty days under eaves. Throughout history, how infants were buried has often been different from how adults were buried in Western Europe.

Who Else Was Buried There?

Eaves-drip burials were not used in all medieval cemeteries in Britain. Also, in some Christian cemeteries, the eaves-drip area included not just young children but sometimes one or two adults. These adults might have been women who died during or after childbirth.

It is thought that some children and adults were buried under the eaves for extra protection. They might have believed the dripping water from the holy roof offered special benefits. At the medieval cemetery in Whithorn in Scotland, the eaves area was only for infant burials at first. But by the end of the eighth century, this special burial ground was used for children up to twelve years old. Archaeologists have also found groups of infant graves next to other standing buildings within cemeteries, not just churches.

Places with Eaves-Drip Burials

This is a partial list of cemeteries where eaves-drip burials have been found:

• Castle Green, Herefordshire
• Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
• Jarrow, Tyne and Wear
• Pontefract, West Yorkshire
• Raunds Furnells, Northamptonshire
• Spofforth, North Yorkshire
• Thwing, East Yorkshire
• Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway
• Winchester, Hampshire

See also

• Burial in Anglo-Saxon England
• Cillín
• List of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries
• Italy in the Middle Ages