.....News added on 23rd October 2005.....

Williamson's grave found at last! (Photos below) After years of being lost under a public car park, Joseph Williamson's grave was revealed during an archaeological dig on Sunday 23rd October 2005. Overseen by Friends of Williamson's Tunnels, the dig was the third attempt of the year to find the long lost resting place of the 'King of Edge Hill'. The area, on the edge of Liverpool City Centre, is currently part of the large-scale Paradise Street redevelopment project. With new buildings shooting up all around the plot, FoWT had been in discussions with developer Grosvenor Henderson about taking the opportunity to finally try and locate the grave, which hadn't been seen since the early 1900s. With so much time elapsed and little concrete evidence of the grave, its existence had begun to appear more folklore than fact. Thanks to Grosvenor's continued kind co-operation, early in the morning contractors Laing O'Rourke began stripping back the infill and concrete . As grave slabs started to appear, FoWT researchers advised consultant archaeologists Oxford Archaeology on the likely location of the long-lost vault. We had already ruled out much of the triangle of land during the two digs carried out in July. This meant that possible locations were down to the last few yards of land as the morning progressed. Our concerns that the stone may have been lost or previously removed turned to delight, however, when just after 1:00pm the name 'Tate' (Williamson's adopted family) was uncovered on one of the last stones. Skilful work by the digger driver and careful trowelling and brushing by the archaeologists soon unveiled the full Tate stone, with the last few lines: "Also the remains of Joseph Williamson of Edge Hill who died the 1st May 1840 aged 71 years." The plot is now going to be used as a storage pound by the main contractor for a period of time, so by mid-afternoon it was covered again by rubble and spoil then levelled off. Grosvenor Henderson have planned a garden for the triangle of land and they share our wishes for a permanent memorial to Williamson on the spot of his grave. Plans for this are in hand although it will only be put in place as the development nears completion in a year or two's time. Meanwhile, we are happy that the dig was such a success and that with the grave now found, folklore has become fact. We are very grateful to all concerned. Background notes are beneath the last picture, below.

Above, digging gets under way early in the morning.
Above, several hours later Williamson's grave is revealed and archaeologists start to uncover it properly.
Above, FoWT inspect the inscription at close quarters
	Left, a view of the full slab, which had been covered over for so long.
Above, the lower part of the inscription confirms Williamson's last resting place.
Notes When Joseph Williamson died in 1840 he was buried in the graveyard of St. Thomas's Church on the edge of Liverpool City Centre. His was the last body to be placed in the vault of his family - the Tates, whose daughter he had married. The Church was demolished in 1911 and the graveyard soon fell into disrepair. By 1920 the graveyard was covered over, the graves potentially never to be seen again. Latterly, for a couple of decades up to 2005, the plot was used as a public car park, until it was fenced off during the Paradise Street redevelopment in early 2005. The Paradise Street development is a project of Grosvenor Henderson Limited. Following announcement of the Paradise Street project, FoWT lobbied Grosvenor Henderson for the site of Williamson's grave to be investigated and protected. Grosvenor Henderson kindly agreed to this and made plans for the triangle of land concerned to be made into a garden and arranged for digging work to be carried out to discover whether the grave still existed. Contractor Laing O'Rourke carried out the excavation work at the grave site, supervised by archaeological consultants Oxford Archaeology.