HISTORIC remains of 18 people discovered during excavation work at Brighton’s Royal Pavilion Estate last year have been laid to rest in a “dignified and sensitive” ceremony.

Thought to be 200 to 300 years old, the bones were from Quakers’ Croft, a Quaker burial ground where the first recorded burial was in 1702, before the estate was built.

They were found underneath the conference room at Brighton Dome’s Corn Exchange and, after they were excavated, the remains were taken to the Archaeology South East office where they were cleaned and studied in detail by the osteological team.

The remains were laid to rest at the Memorial Cemetery in Woodingdean in a Quaker ceremony.

Among those attending the ceremony was Andrew Comben, Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival’s chief executive, local Quakers, representatives of Brighton and Hove City Council and members of the archaeology team including Dr Paola Ponce, the osteo-archaeologist who worked at the excavation site.

Vivienne Ross, an elder at the Brighton Quaker Meeting, described it as “an emotional link to the past”.

She said: “To be at a meeting for our distant friends was an honour. Our predecessors whom we are laying to rest, with the connections and insights of their historical past discovered from our archives, gave us an emotional link to the past.”

Mr Comben said the ceremony was dignified and sensitive, adding: “The discovery of the burial site has opened up a fascinating chapter in the history of Brighton and of the Royal Pavilion Estate.”

Quakers, a religious movement dating back to the English Civil War during the mid-1600s, contributed to the city’s rich cultural history, said Alan Robins, chairman of the council’s tourism, development and culture committee.

It is thought 75 Friends, as Quakers are known, were buried at the Quaker’s Croft site.

Their occupations included carpenter, labourer, schoolmaster, draper, wine merchant, brewer, coal merchant, banker, miller, confectioner, corn merchant, mariner, blacksmith, basket maker tailor and grocer.

The first permanent Quaker Meeting House had been established in 1700 on the corner of New Road and North Street.

The meadowland behind it was let, becoming known as Quakers’ Croft, and a smaller piece at the nearby Spring Walks was used as a burial ground. The land was bought by the Prince of Wales in 1804 and a year later the Quaker meeting house moved to its current location in Meeting House Lane.

The work at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange is part of a project to restore and reunite the Royal Pavilion Estate buildings and gardens.