Western Daily Press
SECRET SEXUAL HISTORY OF THE GHOSTLY MONKS
09:30 - 23 June 2004

The sordid sexual secrets of a medieval monastery could be laid bare in
a historical dig in the heart of a West city, it was revealed yesterday.
Archaeologists in Gloucester have moved in to demolish a garage on the
site of Blackfriars Priory, which dates back to the 13th century.

Among their goals is to solve the riddle of whether Britain's first ever
case of venereal disease broke out at the priory 600 years ago.
Analysis of a skeleton dug up at the site 20 years ago revealed it was
of a woman who had died of syphilis 80 years before the disease was
thought to have arrived in this country.
Until less than a decade ago, mechanics operated the Clutch Clinic from
what was once the cloisters of the priory. But now they have gone,
historians are hoping to find out more about the priory - built on the
site of one of William the Conqueror's castles.
Guardians at English Heritage have been buying up converted buildings on
the site since taking on the medieval restoration project in 1955 and
several workmen have reported seeing ghosts.

Archaeologists are looking for more clues about the life of the
Benedictine monks, who tended the sick and the poor of the city 750
years ago.
Removing the garage will also improve access to the Scriptorium, which
has 20 unique stone cubicles where the monks studied and slept in what
is believed to be England's oldest library building.
English Heritage monuments inspector Nick Molyneux said: "We know the
broad brush history but who knows what else we will find when we analyse
everything? We have already found about 50 pieces of stone and glass,
and there is a very interesting column that I am looking forward to
seeing when it is finally pulled out. We have spent a long time
reassembling this monastic site and this is the final piece of the
jigsaw."

The skeleton of the unknown woman, aged between 17 and 25, was dug up as
part of a routine excavation ordered at the old churchyard in 1991 by
the then county archaeologist Malcolm Atkin. Dr Charlotte Roberts of
Bradford University examined the contents of grave 77 and concluded the
woman had died between 1400 and 1450 from the advanced stages of
syphilis. According to her dates, the young woman died of the disease
well before Columbus is supposed to have brought the disease back from
the Americas in 1493.

Daily Press Fact File

The first recorded epidemic of syphilis in the 'old world' was in 1495
when large numbers of Italian troops went down with the disease.
Records show it swept across Europe before reaching England in 1496 and
eventually arrived China and India a few years later.
It is widely believed that the disease was first imported to Europe from
Colombia by sailors exploring the New World.

Early cures, including mercury, often proved fatal.