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CLICK ON THE RIGHT SIDE TO HEAR Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ RADIO SUFFOLK'S NICK PANDOLFI TALKING TO REPORTER JOEL MAPP LIVE AT THE FIRST DAY OF THE EXCAVATIONΜύ >>

CLICK ON THE LINK AT THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE TO SEE PICTURE GALLERY AS THE DIG BEGINS >>

The team began excavating the grave of Elizabeth Tilney Gosnold, in the chancel of All Saints on Monday 13th June 2005.

All Saints Church, Shelley

The careful and painstaking work on the chancel floor involves the removal of Victorian tiles, a layer of 18th century bricks and the sand which provides a bedding layer for the brick floor.Μύ The flagstones you can see in the photos are unlikely to have been moved since the body of Elizabeth Tilney Gosnold was placed in the family vault.

Elizabeth Tilney Gosnold was the sister of Suffolk adventurer Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, a prominent leader of the team of pioneers who established the first permanent English settlement in the American New World in 1607.

In 2003 archaeologists in Virginia discovered the remains of a high-ranking male colonist, who was buried ceremoniously just outside the 1607 James Fort site at Jamestown.Μύ It is believed the remains are those of Gosnold.

Rhodri Gardner, SCC Archaeological Service

The excavation in Shelley aims to retrieve a small amount of DNA to enable a comparison. A tooth or a 5 cmΒ² piece of bone from the pelvis is all that will be required.

A match would ensure that Grundisburgh-born Gosnold finally receives the recognition he deserves, as one of America’s founding fathers, during the 400th anniversary celebrations in 2007.

"This is the first time that the Church has granted permission for such an excavation," says Diocesan Advisory Committee Secretary, James Halsall.

The search begins at Shelley Church

"The go-ahead was only given because of the strength of the educational and scientific rationale presented to us by the Jamestown team," he says.

National media from the UK and America attended the first day of the excavation, which is expected to continue throughout the week.

The costs of the dig are being met by the National Geographic Society who will screen a documentary about the project towards the end of the year. The results of any DNA test will form the climax of the show.

CLICK ON THE LINK AT THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE TO SEE PICTURE GALLERY AS THE DIG BEGINS >>

CLICK ON THE RIGHT SIDE TO HEAR Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ RADIO SUFFOLK'S NICK PANDOLFI TALKING TO REPORTER JOEL MAPP LIVE AT THE FIRST DAY OF THE EXCAVATIONΜύ >>