NHER 69643 (Monument record) - Post-medieval brick tomb, disarticulated human remains and medieval to post-medieval finds

March 2025. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with installation of new signage between St Mary's Church (NHER 5565) and Church Street.
A small trench excavated c.6m north of the north porch encountered the corner of an uncapped brick tomb of 18th- to 19th-century date. No other features were noted during these works.
A moderate quantity of disarticulated human bone, including two adult craniums, was recovered from the well-mixed graveyard soils encountered within all of the excavated trenches. These remains were reburied within a slot dug close to the churchyard wall.
The most notable of the unstratified finds recovered was an abraded glazed floor tile of 14th- to 16th-century date that was potentially derived from an earlier floor within the church. Other finds recovered included post-medieval to modern pottery sherds, post-medieval bottle glass, post-medieval roof tiles, pieces of clay tobacco pipe stem and fragments of animal bone (including a sawn rib) – suggesting the dumping of rubbish or the spreading of soils containing midden waste within this part of the churchyard.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 5 December 2025.