NHER 61934 (Monument record) - Medieval to post-medieval graves, robbed-out medieval wall and multi-period finds

24 November 2009. Casual Observation.
Trench dug by machine to bring water to church, but a duct was also laid above to allow cables to be pulled underground. The trench stopped just before the blocked north door of the nave and travelled west-north-west to the perimeter of the churchyard. No finds were made and no burials noted.
See digital images (S2).
Previously recorded under NHER 8521.
A. Rogerson (HES), 28 September 2011. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 3 November 2016.

January 2015. Excavation.
Excavation of footings for small extension on north side of church and connecting trench for a new sewerage system.
Natural deposits were encountered at a depth of between 1.2m and 0.6m, with the deepest soils present in the vicinity of the church. A total of 30 graves were exposed, many of which were at least partially intercut. All of the burials lay within approximately 9m of the church and an east-to-west ditch encountered a little further away may well have marked the northern limits of the cemetery. Although these works did not require the complete excavation of all the graves it was nevertheless necessary to lift the articulated remains of 25 individuals. These comprised 18 adults, 1 juvenile, 5 children and 1 neonate. Groups of disarticulated bones that represented the partial remains of several additional children were also identified. The relatively high proportion of young individuals may indicate at least a degree of zoning in the vicinity of the north door of the church. Four of the graves were 19th- to early 20th-century in date but the remainder are thought to have been medieval. Analysis of the burial patterns and the finds recovered suggests that the majority of the graves are likely to be of 13th-century or later date. One burial was identified that predated the 14th-century expansion of the nave.
An east-to-west aligned linear feature identified just to the north of the nave wall proved to be the robbed out remains of a medieval wall, perhaps associated with a former north aisle that was demolished to allow the expansion of the nave. The lower portion of this feature contained banded deposits of the kind typically found beneath more substantial medieval constructions in the county. Little trace of the wall itself survived other than a mix of flint and mortar debris. These footings were clearly truncated by the construction trench for the extant nave wall, demonstrating that the robbed-out wall had been demolished prior to or during the rebuilding of the nave in the 14th-century. Banded deposits were also noted beneath the footings of the nave wall.
An unusual petroglyph was noted on a buttress by the north door of the church, which may have been some form of medieval or post-medieval graffiti.
Finds recovered during this work included several Roman brick and tile fragments, a single sherd of Late Saxon pottery, a small assemblage of medieval and medieval/post-medieval pottery sherds and post-medieval tile fragments. The small number of metal objects found included a potentially late medieval lead alloy mount and a cast lead musket ball that appears to have been modified for use as a counter for gaming or counting.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 November 2016.