NHER 8683 (Building record) - Holy Trinity Church, Caister on Sea

1947. Listed Grade II*.
Listing Description excerpt:
"Parish church. 13th-century origins, altered [in] 15th century. Much restored 1894, roofs tiled 1976. Flint with ashlar dressings. West tower, nave, south aisle and chancel. Three-stage tower, externally only two stages apparent. Diagonal stepped buttresses to west...Gabled south porch supported on diagonal buttresses and entered through wave moulded arch...Against chancel a gabled 20th-century vestry...Nave roof famous for contract of 1330 [(S1)] but replaced 1785...Large octagonal 15th-century font…"
Information from (S2).
Please consult the National Heritage List for England (S2) for the current listing details.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 11 February 2022.

1967 to 1968.
Foundations of chantry chapel found beside north wall with two skeletons under floor 3m by 4.2m (10 feet by 14 feet) inside. Walls 0.6m (2 feet) thick, also found two 16th century buttons linked by wire and Roman pottery.
See (S3).

(S4) notes a local legend of tomb on top of the tower, derived from the odd gabled tower roof.
E. Rose.

The 15th century font, carved with the symbols of the evangelists, was found in a garden in Eye, Suffolk in the 19th century. It was brought to Holy Trinity Church in 1902.

August 2004. Excavation and Watching Brief. Contexts 10-69.
Excavations to the north of the church revealed significant Roman features in the form of a pit and a curvilinear ditch. Both features contained large amounts of unworn grey mortaria pottery, suggesting the presence of a kiln nearby. To date this site is the first to provide evidence of the manufacturing source of grey mortaria in Britain, and thus is of national significance. This is particularly interesting with reference to the chronology and establishment of the nearby Roman fort (NHER 8675).
The foundation trench for the north wall of Holy Trinity Church was exposed during the excavations, along with a substantial number of 19th century burials.
Subsequent archaeological monitoring during the excavation of service trenches associated with the new structure identified further 19th century burials and a brick vault, along with redeposited Roman material.
See report (S5) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S6).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 23 January 2007.

October 2005.
Dating is difficult, following thorough restoration in 1894.
Nave is 13th century. South aisle added around 1300. Nave re-roofed in in 1330, replaced in 1785.
Information from (S2).
D. Robertson (NLA), 12 October 2005.

February-May 2022. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with construction of new vestry and installation of surface water drainage system.
The new vestry was constructed between the west wall of the existing vestry and the east wall of the south aisle. It is noted that the initial demolition of the existing vestry chimney revealed no features of note in the fabric of the chancel, with no reused Roman material noted. A foundation trench excavated for the new structure revealed the flint and mortar foundations of the church, a ceramic pipe believed to be an air pipe for the organ and a brick coal cellar. Three courses of buff-coloured brick were also noted in the fabric of the east wall of the south aisle, above a deposit of mortar/concrete that stood proud of the church wall (possibly indicating an earlier lower ground level).
The excavation of a soakaway pit approximately 10m south of the south porch revealed a single east-to-west aligned grave containing the poorly preserved skeletal remains of an adult. The fill of the grave contained a single presumably residual Roman pottery sherd. A small number of additional Roman pottery sherds were recovered during the excavation of various surface water drains, along with a single late medieval/early post-medieval pottery sherds and 14 fragments of disarticulated human bone.
All human remains were retained by the church for subsequent reburial.
See report (S7) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 2 April 2025.