ONE of the most northerly outposts of early Christendom has been uncovered under a North-East school yard.

Archaeologists are hailing the discovery of 80 Dark Ages skeletons in the grounds of a special school in Stockton, Teesside, as one of the most significant historical finds ever made in the North-East.

It is thought to be the most northerly Christian burial site ever found in England - prompting experts to speculate those buried were some of the region's first Christian converts.

The cemetery, at Bishopsmill Special School, Norton, dates from between the seventh and ninth centuries and has 80 graves.

Each contained either whole or part-skeletons, and all were set east to west - a trait that marks the graves out from earlier pagan burials that faced north to south.

Peter Rowe, sites and monuments officer for Tees Archaeology, said the dig could reveal how and when Christianity took hold in the North-East.

He said: "This is one of the best finds in recent years. We've had other very early Christian burial sites in cathedral towns such as York and Ripon, but this is the furthest north.

"We know there was a monastery built in Hartlepool in about 640AD, so these bones could belong to some of the first converts who died 30 or 40 years later."

The school grounds have been known to harbour ancient secrets since a minor excavation for a security fence ten years ago unearthed a couple of skeletons from the Dark Ages.

This week's dramatic excavation of all of the school grounds came about when the school applied to Stockton Borough Council for planning permission to build an extension. Suspecting the site held more bodies, Tees Archaeology stepped in.

Pupils have not come face-to-face with the skeletons because the school is closed until the extension is built.

Mr Rowe said: "This dig is just the beginning for these bones. They will now be sent to a pathologist, who will try to tell us how they died - if it was diseases or if they met violent ends.

"It's a big site, but we suspect it's even bigger than what we've already uncovered.

"A few years ago, a man found three skeletons under his patio in nearby Bradbury Road. We suspect they were part of the same big cemetery.

"We already have a nearby pagan burial site and Norman church, so this gives us the missing link in local burials."