Haverfordwest friary features on BBC2's Digging for Britain

230 skeletons and a vast assortment of ancient artefacts could help piece together the intricate jigsaw that makes up St Saviour’s - the prestigious Dominican Friary which commanded pride of place for 300 years along the Cleddau between the new and the old bridges of Haverfordwest.

This week Dyfed Archaeological Trust’s head of contractual works, Fran Murphy, outlined the extent of the findings to the Western Telegraph.

“This has been an exceptionally rare find,” she said.

“To have been given the opportunity to excavate medieval deposits in West Wales to this extent just does not happen.”

The friary was established by the Dominican monks in 1246 and remained an important factor in town life until its suppression in 1538 during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.

Despite there being no paintings or images relating to the friary's appearance, it is believed to have comprised an extensive set of buildings including a church, cloister, infirmary, library, stables, gardens, dormitories and a cemetery.

The findings were discovered when contractors began re-developing the former Ocky White department store in Bridge Street.

There they began discovering artefacts including beautiful stone effigies and carvings such as an exquisite angel’s head with her eyes, nose, mouth and long fingers still clearly visible.

The archaeological team also unearthed part of a magnificent column complete with its base, some magnificent green roof tiles, intricate floor tiles and solid stone walls which could form part of Haverfordwest’s original town walls.

The archaeological team at work in Bridge Street (Image: Digging for Britain)

Each of the artefacts have now been moved to the Dyfed Archaeological Trust headquarters in Llandeilo for further analysis while the skeletal material has been taken to Cardiff University to determine the age, sex, health and occupation of the deceased.

It is hoped that each of the skeletons will eventually be given a formal burial on a site close to their original resting place although the exact location has yet to be determined.

The findings have been welcomed by local historian, Dr Simon Hancock.

“When I first found out about the development at Bridge Street, I felt sure that remains of the friary would be discovered, but I never realised the extent of what we’d find,” he said.

“This was an exceptionally important complex in the history of the town of Haverfordwest and it’s wonderful to think that work can finally be done to assess how the friary may have once looked and how it would have operated.”

This Sunday, viewers can watch the archaeologists at work at Haverfordwest when their dig featured on ‘Digging for Britain’ which will be shown on BBC and iPlayer at 8pm.