Tomb is family's last resting place

A HISTORIAN has revealed the story of a mysterious concrete tomb uncovered by workers under a Derby street.

Contractors working on the Connecting Derby scheme discovered the structure, apparently containing four bodies, in Agard Street, on Friday.

When the Derby Telegraph first covered the story, the only clue to its origins came from Richard Felix, of Derby Ghost Walks. He said that "legend had it" that a chapel on the site was knocked down for the building of the railway in the 1870s and that the graveyard was dug up and the bones scattered.

Now, historian Peter Billson has come forward to say that the story was more than a myth.

Mr Billson, of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society, said the tomb was part of a Calvinist baptist chapel built in 1795 and extended shortly after.

Calvinism is a form of Christianity which emphasises God's sovereignty or control over all things.

The tomb became the resting place of silk manufacturer Thomas Bridgett. It was blocked off in the 1920s after it was targeted by grave robbers.

He said the tomb contained the bodies of Mr Bridgett, his fourth wife, Eleanor, his daughter, Sarah, and his fifth wife, also called Sarah.

He said: "It was also recorded that the remains of three children who died in infancy were also placed in the vault.

"The names remain unrecorded, and whether they were the offspring of Eleanor or the later Sarah has not been established. "It was unaffected by the building of the railway arches.

"In view of the impending new road works I passed all the information to Derby City Council early this June, so the facts were not unknown."

Mr Billson has written a book about Mr Bridgett called Thomas Bridgett & Company. Silk Manufacturers c.1803-1870.

He said: "Mr Bridgett became a member of the baptist community soon after the chapel's opening, becoming a deacon, or elder, of the group.

"He started silk-making in a small way and came from humble beginnings but by the time he died he had built two large silk mills behind Bridge Street and Brook Street.

"The firm of Thomas Bridgett ceased to exist from 1879 when the last member of the family died."

By the end of the 1830s the Bridgetts were the largest employers in Derby, with nearly 1,000 workers in their mills.

Work on the Agard Street site is now being carried out by the University of Birmingham.

The chapel has been sealed off by metal fencing.

A Derby City Council spokesman said: "There won't be any further action until later this week.

''We've got to liaise with the baptist church, the coroner and the police. ''