VISITORS who cast an eye to the floor as they wander around Worcester Cathedral might notice a plaque dedicated to the mysterious Worcester Pilgrim.

It has the dates of when the 15th Century pilgrim's corpse was accidentally discovered during refurbishment works in 1987 and when his remains were re-buried in 1999.

The inscription also depicts a staff and a shell, the only real clues as to his identity.

They reveal the remains belong to a pilgrim who had made the mighty journey to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain.

In the crypt below are what remains of the pilgrim's boots and staff.

But why would a man of such seemingly low social standing find a final resting place where only bishops, princes and a king were allowed to be buried?

The chances are we will never know the true facts, and so it is left to educated guesswork and supposition to concoct theories.

Enter Malvern writer and actor Alex Jones and radio director and producer Peter Leslie Wild from Barbourne, Worcester.

Neither of them can remember who had the idea first, but two years on, through a mix of exhaustive research and fiction their radio play The Worcester Pilgrim is soon to be aired on Radio 4.

"I've been doing a lot of research in the Cathedral Library which is an amazing resource," said Jones.

"I'm not sure how many people in Worcester know what a treasure it is."

This research turned up historic facts that spawned ideas for the radio play. For example, cathedrals were frequently under the control of absentee bishops who would milk the Church's businesses, which ranged from renting land to selling divine forgiveness in the form of indulgences.

Representatives of these bishops would be sent to the cathedrals to collect the money, which provides the play with its villain, Geoffrey de Villier (played by Kim Durham).

"There was also some forensic evidence carried out on the pilgrim which revealed he had been shot in the leg," said Jones.

The play begins with the nearly crippled pilgrim (played by David Hargreaves) arriving at the Cathedral as he struggles to make his way back to Coventry on feet that don't stop bleeding. The Prior (played by Robert Lister) takes an interest in the pilgrim, who finds a new spiritual home.

With the freedom of fiction, Jones was able to incorporate the idea of pilgrimage for penance and explores what could have driven a 15th Century man to wend his way to Spain and Jerusalem.

"The difference between doing a documentary about the Worcester Pilgrim and a play is that the dramatisation can deal with bigger subjects like the true nature of faith," said Wild.

"I think there is a lot in it that is still relevant. For me, I think that if it helps in some small way to put Worcester and Worcester Cathedral on the map then that's a positive result."

Both Jones and Wild have a keen interest in the historical events of the area. Jones' stage play The Bridge takes place in both present day and Civil War Worcester.

"I like to find out what is was like to be an ordinary person around during a certain time," said Jones.

Wild has a number of fact-based historic radio plays under his belt including Bloody Stefi about a love triangle between the composers Bartok and Schoeck and a woman called Stefi, and The Rainbow Bridge about Charles Darwin's wife who was a devout Christian.

The duo are currently working on two radio plays, A Bird, A Heart, A Bicycle which explores the possibility that the Wright Brothers were not the first to take to the skies in an aeroplane and the Walsall Boys about the Anarchist movement of the 1890s.

The pair have also worked together on The Archers with Wild as director and Jones playing the role of horse-slasher and all-round villain Clive Horrobin.

It is rare to be around to see the formation of an idea for a play, but on leaving the Cathedral the pair are suddenly inspired by the story of another corpse buried in the cathedral and run off in hot pursuit. Will anything come of this flash of inspiration? Watch this space.

The Worcester Pilgrim airs at 2.15pm on Wednesday, November 12, on Radio Four.