AN archaeological survey is set to reveal whether there is a mass Civil War burial pit in the grounds of Worcester Cathedral.

Surviving records suggest that soldiers killed in the bloody 1651 Battle of Worcester were often buried in the Cathedral precincts, but it is not known exactly where.

Local historian Dilip Sarkar and Cathedral archaeologist Chris Guy have now secured permission to carry out a geophysics scan in the area, which, they hope, will reveal the site of the pit where an unknown number of war casualties were laid to rest.

Because the original city cemetary was to the north of the Cathedral - now underneath the Cathedral roundabout and Cathedral Plaza shopping centre - Mr Guy believes the burial pit would be located somewhere in the College Yard.

"If we find it," he said, "we'd like to put a plaque on the ground indicating where it is.

"We wouldn't be looking to excavate it, just to mark it."

Mr Sarkar, who began looking into the location of the pit while researching a book about the 1642 Battle of Powick Bridge, said the survey is likely to reveal a number of other archaeological features, such as the original site of St Michael's Church.

"With something like this," he said, "you never know what else you're going to find.

"The scan will show all anomalies under the surface, a pit would be a massive anomaly but it will also show much smaller ones."

St Michael's stood in the shadow of the Cathedral for more than 1,000 years before being demolished. Records, including paintings, show it was sited adjacent to the cathedral until it was pulled down in 1840, and then rebuilt next to the Lich Gate. Its exact location of that first church that the geophys survey could reveal.

On Tuesday those involved in the project with carry out a site visit. After that Mr Sarkar will begin looking for funding to carry out the survey itself.