Data from a Historic Building Recording at Church of St Mary, Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, 2018-2022 (HS2 Phase One)
L-P : Archaeology HS2, High Speed Two Ltd., 2025. https://doi.org/10.5284/1135511. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © High Speed Two Ltd. unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under a The Open Government Licence (OGL).
Primary contact
High Speed Two Ltd.
2 Snowhill
Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6GA
United Kingdom
Tel: 08081 434 434
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 4707
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1135511
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
This collection comprises images, spreadsheets and site records from a programme of salvage and historic building recording conducted by LP Archaeology at the former site of St Mary’s Church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, between 2018 and 2022.
The church existed from the 11th century and was deconsecrated in 1866. The abandoned church was situated within its churchyard delineated by a metal fence. Following abandonment, the church fabric decayed, and the ruins became dangerous. The remains of the church were demolished in 1966, resulting in a mound of rubble. The programme of works required the safe recovery and salvage of architectural and funerary monument fragments from the demolished church. Over 700 such worked stone items were recovered and catalogued. The surviving upstanding remains of the church building were surveyed and recorded.
The project significantly enhanced understanding of the site’s archaeological potential. Prior to the fieldwork, the extent of the church’s survival beneath the rubble and the volume of recoverable material were unknown. These questions have now been answered, with the results demonstrating not only the value of the salvaged material but also the potential for further detailed study. The historic building record helped refine the church’s construction chronology and confirmed its value as a resource for ongoing research. Survey work within the graveyard also improved the record of burial remains and highlighted the importance of integrating these findings with the wider archaeological record of the cemetery. Several brick-built tombs were identified as requiring further investigation.
The church is situated within a rich archaeological landscape that includes evidence of prehistoric and Roman activity, particularly to the northeast of the site, where an Iron Age enclosure and a Roman ladder settlement have been identified through trenching and geophysical survey. Undated remains around the churchyard suggest that the church may have been built over earlier archaeological features. Within this broader context, the church and churchyard take on a central role. While the building conforms in some ways to a typical parish church, its siting is unusual and does not align with evidence of a nearby medieval village. The original reasoning for its location remains uncertain, though it may relate to its early role as a chapelry linked to the prebendal church in Aylesbury. During the later medieval and post-medieval periods, the main settlement shifted to the north, at the site of modern Stoke Mandeville. This relationship between church, landscape, and settlement remains a key area for future research.
