Human remains have been found in an 18th century underground crypt in a village churchyard near Uttoxeter - including those of a well-known novelist.
The astonishing find of six people laid to rest in a mausoleum includes what is believed to be the remains of writer Frances Margaretta Jacson, whose best known novels included Plain Sense, Disobedience and Isabella.
The crypt buried beneath the grounds of St Peter's Church, Somersal Herbert, is thought to date from the eighteenth century.
When wardens opened the door, they found skulls, bones and coffins among the debris inside. It appears at least six people, including a toddler, had been laid to rest in the mausoleum.
And some of the bone-clad building's human remains almost certainly belong to Frances Margeretta Jacson.
The novelist, who was born in Bebington, Cheshire, reached the then extraordinary age of 88 and died in Somersal Herbert in 1842. One of five children of an Anglican rector, her work was said to contain a strong vein of satire, relating bad parents and bad marriages.
Investigators were careful not to touch or move anything in the mausoleum as they took photographs and documented its contents. Out of respect for the dead, they then immediately closed, bricked up and turfed over the extraordinary discovery for good.
Church warden Cliff Ewing said: "It was my duty to go in and take photos and I expected it to be quite a macabre experience when I opened up the doors and looked inside.
"However, it was really anything but and I found it quite humbling. You're aware you're in a location which is significant and important and there are clearly people who have been laid to rest there.
"But I have to say it was something of a privilege to see it all before it was all bricked up and closed again. It will have been our only opportunity to see what was inside."
The startling discovery came when the church groundsman tried to level out a mound which had proved difficult to mow.
When the labourer started digging, he soon found the problematic bulge in the ground was actually a solid brick building.
Officials initially thought it was an old gas house used to supply the church. However, a look inside showed the subterranean structure to be something quite different. An inscription fragment found inside identified Jacson as one of those resting in the tomb.
Also found were wood and leather adult coffins, a 90cm-long toddler's coffin and an adult's lead coffin which appeared to have fallen from a perished plinth.
All the photos and an inventory of what was found will now be documented in the church Terrier - a log book recording finds and work at the building - and the official county archive.
But as far as Rev Dr John Vickerstaff is concerned, Jacson and her underground companions will not be visited again.
He said: "The purpose of going down there was strictly to record the fact it was there, what it was and what was in there. Now we have done that, as far as I'm concerned, it's been bricked back up and won't be entered again, certainly not during my time here.
"We had permission from the diocese to go down there and were extremely careful not to touch or move anything, which is so important. It was so surprising when we found it as literally no-one knew it was there and there were no records of it having been there at all.
"We were inquisitive, but always conscious to ensure we avoided the risk of disturbing a grave, so nothing was touched."
