NHER 66640 (Monument record) - Churchyard of St Giles' Church

Churchyard of St Giles’ Church (NHER 2064). The south-westernmost portion of this churchyard is an extension added during the 20th-century. The entrance gateway with its brick piers lies on what was previously the south-western boundary of the churchyard. A section of the churchyard wall was removed to facilitate the incorporation of this extension, which is bounded by iron railings.

November 2020. Watching Brief.
Maintained during various improvement works, including installation of 'trench arch' drain to the north of the church and a new water pipe running between the church and the entrance to the churchyard.
Traces of graves were noted across most of the area of works, the two notable exceptions being an area immediately to the west of the tower and the southernmost section of the water pipe trench (i.e. close to what was previously the southern extent of the churchyard). The lack of burials to the west of the church suggests that the boundary of the churchyard had always lain in close proximity. The absence of burials in the southernmost part of the churchyard may indicate that the modern path follows the line of a much earlier route upon which no burial encroached. The graves to the south of the church were obscured by a subsoil deposit suggested that these were of an earlier, potentially medieval date.
The water pipe trench also exposed a small portion of the foundation for the north wall of the church tower. This was notably different from that of the overlying wall, suggesting that the extant tower (which presumably dates to the reconstruction of 1879) was built on the foundations of the medieval tower. This work revealed nothing to indicate that the medieval church extended beyond the footprint of the extant building, with no other structural remains identified. Sandy and gravelly deposits to the west of the tower were probably associated with the late 19th-century works.
No finds were recovered apart from a small number of disarticulated human bone fragments. These were left on site for subsequent reburial within the churchyard.
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.68).
P. Watkins (HES), 28 December 2022. Amended 24 August 2025.