Police have said human bones found under a driveway at a house in Purley are at least 1,200 years old.

The bones were unearthed by landscape gardeners from Wallington at a house in Purley on April 14.

Police investigating the discovery of the skull and bone found in Riddlesdown Road today said expert anthropologist analysis has found them to date back to between 670 and 775AD.

That is between 1239 and 1344 and confirms theories they are from the Anglo-Saxon times.

The Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period of British history after their initial settlement, until the Norman conquest, between about 450 and 1066.

Your Local Guardian: The Carpenter family - mum and dad Alison and Michael and their children Jasmine, 11, Joel, 9, Toby, 7, and Zac, 13, holding bone fragments

Croydon Guardian: The Carpenter family - mum and dad Alison and Michael and their children Jasmine, 11, Joel, 9, Toby, 7, and Zac, 13, holding bone fragments

The police’s forensic report will be passed to English Heritage who have expressed further interest in the discovery as it is known that an ancient Saxon burial site is in the vicinity.

The Carpenter family that live at the address have been informed.

 

No further police investigation is now required and their case has been closed.