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Ancient human remains that turned a couple’s home renovation into a crime investigation have finally been laid to rest — with the homeowner recently speaking out about the ordeal.
Ross Sledger, 49, was at work in spring 2019 when a builder working on a kitchen addition at his home unearthed what appeared to be human bones, news agency SWNS reported.
The remains were formally re-interred this August during a ceremony at a church near Sledger’s home in Wye, Kent, in southeastern England.
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Sledger said he initially thought little of the discovery, assuming the bones belonged to a farm animal or pet, SWNS reported.
“[The builder] said, ‘I’ve found some bones,’ and I said, ‘Great,’ thinking it was farming or pets,” Sledger said.
A builder working on the home of Ross Sledger, pictured at left, unearthed what appeared to be human bones, right, during renovations. (Ross Sledger/SWNS)
Sledger said he was stunned to learn the remains could be human.
“As you can imagine, a lot of language came out of my mouth. I was thinking, ‘You must be joking, this is a wind-up,’ but he said, ‘I’m deadly serious,'” Sledger recalled.
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The bones, later determined to be Anglo-Saxon remains roughly 1,000 years old, caused a stir — and a police investigation.
Around 10 officers went to the home to sift through the backyard, with investigators eventually finding remains of a second body.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh no, this is going to delay it. I’ve got bricklayers next week.'”
In all, the grisly discovery included a femur, two skulls, ribs, part of a pelvis and fragments of a humerus and finger bones.
“They thought it was a crime scene,” Sledger said. “They had to have an officer overnight, and every half hour he had to get out of his car.”
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“That set off the neighbor’s floodlights, which set off my dog barking. So as you can imagine, I didn’t get much sleep that night,” he added, as SWNS noted.
About 48 hours after the initial discovery, specialists confirmed the remains were ancient and not related to a modern-day crime.
Police initially treated the discovery of human remains at the home as a potential modern-day crime scene. (Ross Sledger/SWNS)
But the discoveries didn’t end there.
Sledger later uncovered what he described as “knuckles and fingers” while installing artificial grass in his backyard — which caused some renovation-related anxiety.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh no, this is going to delay it. I’ve got bricklayers next week,'” Sledger said.
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“I was thinking, ‘This could take months,’ but luckily, they were done and dusted by the end of the weekend, which was good.”
After the police investigation ended, Sledger said the remains were transferred to a historical society and eventually to a local vicar, though arranging their final resting place took time.
The ancient human remains were formally re-interred in August during a ceremony at a church near the home. (Ross Sledger/SWNS)
“I think it was a question of getting permission and whether they would be allowed to be there,” Sledger added.
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“I think it was a bit more red tape than anything else.”
At the August re-interment ceremony, the vicar chose the hymn “Jerusalem,” which Sledger said offered a fitting tribute to the ancient remains.
Sledger’s backyard isn’t the only one in the United Kingdom to yield an unexpected piece of history.
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Another British couple made a historically valuable — though far less grim — discovery in their own backyard recently.
The hymn “Jerusalem” was chosen for the August re-interment ceremony honoring the roughly 1,000-year-old human remains. (Ross Sledger/SWNS)
The Hampshire couple uncovered a hoard of 70 historic English coins while adjusting a fence near a flower bed in 2020.
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The coins were sold at auction in November 2025 for more than £380,000, or roughly $500,000.
