Discovered unexpectedly during excavation work in 2017, Abbot John of Wheathampstead, one of the most influential Benedictine Abbots of the 15^th century, has been laid to rest, alongside his royal compatriot Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.

For 480 years, his burial site was unknown until he was found alongside three papal bulls that Pope Martin V had given him forty years before he died.

During a very special Evensong on Saturday 30 July, Abbot John’s earthly remains were placed in a zinc ossuary, draped in a purple pall and taken on their final journey via the original 14^th century Abbot’s door. A door that he would have used daily to enter the then Abbey.

Abbot John and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester became fine friends by the end of the 1420s, with the Duke’s spirituality drawing him close to Alban, Britain’s first saint, as well as their love of literary culture. It was felt fitting to reunite the friends and place Abbot John next within the tomb of Humphrey in the Chantry Chapel, near to the Shrine of St Alban.