A leading archaeologist said she was ‘hopping up and down like a kid in a sweet shop’ when the full-length digitally recreated image of the 'Kendal Woman’ was first shown to her.
Megan Stoakley was the archaeologist who led the excavations around Kendal Parish Church that uncovered the remains of 66 individuals from the medieval period.
She spoke to The Gazette on Tuesday night (November 25) at Kendal Parish Church following the official naming and full-length image unveiling of the now famous 12th-century ‘Kendal Woman’.
The 'Kendal Woman’ was one of the 66 medieval remains discovered at the site, 28 of which were articulated skeletons – skeletons that remain close to the form they would have taken in life.
At the event on Tuesday, Ms Stoakley spoke to the large audience gathered in the pews of the parish church about the details and history of the remains that were uncovered just outside the very walls that they were sitting within.
As the night drew to a close, the 'Kendal Woman’ finally got a new name: Agnes – pronounced Annis, meaning ‘pure’ and ‘holy’.
The name was chosen after a community vote of more than 300 people.
Agnes’ face was able to be reconstructed in the first because her skull was well-preserved enough for forensic artists at Liverpool John Moores University to create a facial reconstruction.
Speaking following the unveiling, Ms Stoakley was asked about how she reacted when she first saw the full-length image of Agnes, who she helped uncover herself.
“I was absolutely elated,” she said.
“I was hopping up and down like a kid in a sweet shop.
“I got my manager Dave and just went ‘you’ve got to come and have a look at this.’”
Asked about how important the discoveries and, in particular, Agnes, are in the history of the local area, Ms Stoakley said: “I think it brings people closer together with their past.
“And it makes them understand themselves better.”
She continued by noting that Agnis and the other discoveries ‘connect them [the people of Kendal] to their home’ and ‘their cultural and historical heritage.’
The archaeological work carried out by Ms Stoakley and her colleagues was as a result of findings uncovered because of the construction of Kendal's Flood Risk Management Scheme.
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