NHER 11000 (Building record) - St Mary's Church, Burston

St Mary's Church.

T. Martin's 18th-century notes (S1) refer to St Mary's Church as 'all decaying'. Round tower with octagonal top, and ?Early English? cusped piscina.
Tower fell 1753: rest restored 1853. 15th-century windows. Late 14th-century font. Stuart Royal Arms - Council for the Care of Churches.
Compiled by E. Rose (NLA). Information from record card (S2).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 3 February 2023

15th-century wooden door bricked up in north doorway.
Information from Diocesan Advisory Committee.
E. Rose (NLA).

December 1959. Listed Grade II*.
Listing Description excerpt:
"15th century. Nave with large replacement Perpendicular windows. Chancel rebuilt with south vestry. South porch with arch-braced roof. Tower collapsed in 1753 and west wall of nave supported by large red brick buttress. 15th-century octagonal font with figures round the stem. Flint with stone dressings, slate and tiled roofs."
Information from (S3).
Please consult the National Heritage List for England (S3) for the current listing details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 February 2023.

1993. Trial Trenching.
Trial holes dug by unknown person on behalf of Parochial Church Council revealed base of round tower remaining below ground, surviving up to three courses of flints set in pale yellowish brown mortar.
See hanging plan.
A. Rogerson (NLA) March 1993.

Pews removed and a beech sprung floor laid in the late 1980s. A small kitchen and toilet were added in the 90s.
See (S4) for further details.

February 2014. Building Survey.
Assessment of church ahead of proposed works, including repairs to chancel, vestry and south porch roofs, replacement of gutters and downpipes and improvements to rainwater disposal around the church.
See report (S5) for a detailed description of these elements and notes on the development and restoration of the church.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 February 2023.

November-December 2015. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with installation of new drainage system within churchyard of St Mary’s Church.
The only feature of note was a possible construction trench that potentially related to an earlier chancel wall.
No in-situ burials were disturbed, with only fragments of human bone from previously disturbed burial encountered (all of which was reburied within the churchyard).
The only other find was a 19th-century farthing.
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 February 2023.