Queen Anne Boleyn's Remains

An alternative burial site for Anne is Salle Church, Norfolk, England. An eye-witness, Crispin, Lord of Minherve, a foreign diplomat in London, noted fourteen days after Anne's death that her body had been taken to Norfolk.

A book that was published in 1877 by Doyne C. Bell describes the excavations of the graves in St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London. It is titled Notices of the Historic Burials in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London With an Account of the Discovery of the Supposed Remains of Queen Anne Boleyn (1877, John Murray, Albermarle St.).

Fifteen hundred bodies were buried under the floor of the nave. Of all of them only 33 could be identified. A quote from Bell's book describes Dr. Mouat's examination of the bones thought to be those of Anne Boleyn, "The bones found in the place where Queen Anne is said to have been buried are certainly those of a female in the prime of life, all perfectly consolidated and symmetrical and belong to the same person. The bones of the head indicate a well-formed round skull, with an intellectual forehead, straight orbital ridge, large eyes, oval face, and rather square full chin. The remains of the vertebra and the bones of the lower limbs indicate a well-formed woman of middle height with a short and slender neck. The ribs shew (sic) depth and roundness of chest. The hand and feet bones indicate delicate and well-shaped hands and feet, with tapering fingers and a narrow foot."