Plans to extend Roald Dahl cemetery 'may harm' Roman site

A plan to extend the cemetery where Roald Dahl is buried could "harm" a Roman site, archaeologists have said.

Buckinghamshire Council wants to adds nearly 1,500 new plots to St Peter and St Paul's Church in Great Missenden.

It hopes to extend into a field used for grazing next to the church but it is close to a site where Roman pottery had been found.

A report to the authority said: "The proposal may affect a heritage asset of archaeological interest."

Dahl is buried in the cemetery at St Peter and St Paul, having lived at Gipsy House on Whitefield Lane in Great Missenden for 36 years until his death in 1990.

The author, known for classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Matilda, died aged 74 from a rare cancer of the blood called myelodysplastic syndrome.

According to the Local Democracy Report Service, the plans include plots for 480 full burials and 960 cremated remains.

The land is owned by Buckinghamshire Council and is north of the Grade II listed church.

An archaeology officer said in planning documents that the field is close to a medieval and Roman site.

"If planning permission is granted for this development, then it may harm a heritage asset's significance so a condition should be applied to require the developer to secure appropriate investigation, recording, publication and archiving of the results," they wrote.

Councillors will discuss the issue during a planning meeting on 31 May.

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