Bones, socks and a ‘chonker': British couple's Victorian home renovation turns into mystery dig
When Christopher Jones and Paloma Mills bought a 145-year-old Victorian house in the UK, they expected a few creaky floorboards and outdated plumbing—not an underground bone collection and a pair of vintage socks buried in concrete.
Jones and Mills bought the three-bedroom home in August 2023 and began extensive renovations, turning the abandoned structure into their dream home. But while digging to install piping for an understairs toilet, they stumbled upon something unexpected.
Jones told Newsweek that it wasn't just dirt and debris—'we came across a bone.'
'We were digging under the house to run some piping in for an understairs toilet. We discovered a chonker as our first bone,' Jones said.
'It was discovered behind a huge slab of concrete, together with a coin from the 1970s and a pair of socks,' he added.
Their surprise only deepened as they uncovered more bones beneath the 1880-built structure. Some were found near a rat's nest, leading the couple to believe the remains were likely from animals. Among the smaller bones, they also found what looked like a jawbone and a pair of pantyhose.
The influencer couple has been chronicling their home renovation journey on Instagram, and their bizarre discovery quickly caught the internet's attention.
A video uploaded on April 15 shows Mills holding one of the bones, sparking a flurry of baffled and concerned comments.
A post shared by Christopher Jones and Paloma Quinn Mills (@restoringnumberfour)
One user wrote, 'Time to tell the police. That house is going to get a free concrete removal service and you'll be exempt from council tax for the next 6 months.'
Another added, 'I'm not an archaeologist, and the pantyhose suggests it's human.'
'Stop touching if you think it is a crime scene,' a third commenter warned.
The eerie find recalls another incident from 2022, when a couple in North Yorkshire discovered a hoard of 264 gold coins beneath their kitchen floor during renovations. The centuries-old stash was expected to fetch them £250,000 (Rs 2.3 crore), The Times reported.
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