Westminster Abbey lavatory block gives way to medieval burial find

Remains of at least 50 people, all believed to date from 11th and early 12th century, discovered during demolition work to make space for new tower

The bones of men who may have witnessed the tumultuous events of 1066 in Westminster Abbey, when one king was buried and two were crowned in a year, have been discovered along with the skeleton of a three-year-old child buried under Victorian drainage pipes just outside the wall of Poet's Corner.

"What the child is doing there is one of the many unanswered questions," abbey archaeologist Warwick Rodwell said, "but it is a feature of many ecclesiastical sites that you find the remains of women and children in places where you might not quite expect them."