NHER 68275 (Monument record) - Medieval and undated burials and Late Saxon to post-medieval finds within churchyard of St Catherine's church

Churchyard of St Catherine's church (NHER 8457).

COMMEMORATIVE MONUMENTS

The commemorative monuments within this churchyard included a memorial for the family of Frank Harding Chambers that was designed by C.F.A Voysey and erected in 1912. This monument is listed Grade II and recorded as NHER 62921.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AND DISCOVERIES

June 2004. Field Observation.
Drainage works on south side of nave noted by A. Rogerson (NLA), with trenches cut to a soakaway at TG 3880 1825. The trenches were not observed but the pit for the soakaway revealed encountered natural clay and sand at a depth of over 1m, cut by graves. A body sherd of Late Saxon Thetford-type ware pottery (weighing 7g) was recovered from the spoil.
Previously recorded under NHER 8457.
Compiled by E. Rose (NLA). Information from file notes for NHER 8457 (S1).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 18 April 2024.

November 2020 and January 2021. Watching Brief.
Maintained during the excavation of a service connection trench between the west wall of the tower and the north-west corner of the churchyard.
A number of burials were encountered close to the tower, at a depth of approximately 0.70m below ground level. These included the well-preserved skeleton of an adult female with the remains of a small neonate lying direct over her left arm – most likely the burial of a mother and her newborn child. An adjacent adult skull represented another burial at a similar depth and the moderately well-preserved skeleton of a young child was also exposed nearby, along with the disturbed remains of an additional adult. No finds were associated with these burials, although the absence of any evidence for coffins suggests they were most likely medieval.
The tops of two adult craniums exposed elsewhere along the trench demonstrated the presence of further burials and several patches of redeposited natural sandy clay were probably also evidence for episodes of grave digging. Disarticulated human remains were though limited, with only a modest assemblage of c.30 bone fragments recovered from the disturbed soils.
Other finds included several medieval Flemish-type floor tiles, pieces of medieval window glass (one painted), post-medieval clay tobacco pipe stems, iron smelting slag, a medieval/post-medieval lead gaming counter or weight, a post-medieval finger ring and a post-medieval lead musket ball. Pottery was notably absent.
The articulated remains that had been lifted were reburied within a slot excavated at the base of the trench, along with the disarticulated bone fragments.
As part of this work a trench was also dug by hand against the western wall of the church tower to allow the installation of a service duct below the footings of the wall. This trench exposed a section of the flint footings of the wall and an associated construction cut.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.108).
P. Watkins (HES), 18 April 2024. Amended 27 April 2024.