Unusual relic goes on display

5 July 2010, 12:04 | Updated: 5 July 2010, 12:12

We are used to Roman coins and pots going on display - but people have been flocking to see a 1,000 year old poo previously kept hidden in the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery!

It went on show at the recent Cheltenham Science Festival and was such a hit will now be shown at the Tewkesbury Medieval Fair next weekend.

It was discovered by archaeologists in 1991 digging on the site of the public car park in Ladybellgate Street, it was found at the bottom of a roadside hole thought to have been dug in Saxon times. 

This is an important find because scientists can use it to analyse the diet and heath of our ancestors which helps them to understand similar issues today.  Gloucester is well known for remarkable Saxon finds of things that don’t usually survive, including a complete shoe, part of a smart checked dress and human hair.  
 
Planned to be included in the new galleries due to open April 2011 at the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery as part of the million pond Heritage Lottery Grant recently awarded to the Gloucester Museum Service.