Shakespeare’s head is missing!

It may read ‘cursed be he that moves my bones’ on William Shakespeare’s tombstone.

But experts have concluded that it is possible the Bard’s skull was stolen by trophy hunters over 200 years ago.

Archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were able to look beneath the surface of what is widely thought to be the writer’s grave – but they discovered ‘an odd disturbance at the head end’.

Kevin Colls, who led the study at the site in Holy Trinity Church, said the discovery chimes with the story that the skull was stolen in 1794

Mr Colls, archaeological project manager at, said: ‘We have Shakespeare’s burial with an odd disturbance at the head end and we have a story that suggests that at some point in history someone’s come in and taken the skull of Shakespeare.

‘It’s very, very convincing to me that his skull isn’t at Holy Trinity at all.’

The grave’s custodians allowed the world-first survey because it could be carried out without disturbing the grave.

A worn tombstone inside the church marks the place where Shakespeare is thought to rest, bearing the inscription:

‘Blessed be the man that spares these stones, and cursed be he that moves my bones.

Following the survey, carried out by geophysicist Erica Utsi, Mr Colls has concluded that evidence of a significant repair at the head-end of the grave may have been needed to correct the sinking floor, which in turn was triggered by an historic disturbance – possibly grave robbers.

He added that the results lend credence to a story first published in 1879, widely dismissed as a fiction, that trophy hunters removed the tomb’s skull in the late 18th century.

Both Shakespeare’s and his spouse’s graves are less than a metre deep.

Furthermore, there was no evidence of any metal in the resting places, which experts have claimed may indicate the bodies were wrapped in shrouds and placed in the ground rather than interred in coffins.

Following on from the tomb study, researchers were also granted access to a skull in St Leonard’s Church in the Worcestershire village of Beoley, 17 miles from Stratford, which is said to have been that of the playwright.

A detailed laser scan allowed experts to carry out a forensic anthropological analysis revealing that the Beoley Skull was in fact that of an unknown female aged in her 70s, when she died.

Mr Colls said: ‘It was a great honour to be the first researcher to be given permission to undertake non-invasive archaeological investigations at the grave of William Shakespeare.

Source: Daily mail

N.H.Kh