Title: |
Watching Brief and Excavation: St Nicholas' Church, Great Hormead, Hertfordshire |
Series: |
Archaeological Services & Consultancy Ltd unpublished report series
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Downloads: |
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Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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DOI |
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Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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Abstract: |
In April and May 2007 excavations and a watching brief were undertaken at St Nicholas' Church, Great Hormead, during the construction of new parish rooms and a link structure to the west of the tower. Ten foundation pits were archaeologically excavated, and a watching brief was maintained during subsequent ground reduction, and related works in and around the tower. The whole or partial remains of nearly fifty individuals, probably all of 18th to 20th-century date, were revealed. Evidence was recovered of coffin construction and fittings, of vault construction and of stacked burials. It was possible to assign names to a small number of individual burials. Demonstrably modern burials were reburied as soon as possible, along with any associated artefacts, while older burials were subject to rapid osteological assessment on site. This revealed instances of a number of pathological conditions, such as osteoporosis, periostitis and Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna. A range of dental conditions were also observed, including dental caries, calculus and abscesses. One individual had a groove in his teeth, probably caused by smoking a clay pipe.Observations made in the tower generally confirmed existing ideas regarding the dating and function of the structure. An area of possible green paint in the southwest corner of the tower was found to be copper staining. Excavations to the west of the tower revealed evidence for three constructional phases. |
Author: |
T Hawtin
Karin Semmelmann
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Publisher: |
Archaeological Services & Consultancy Ltd
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Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Hertfordshire HER (OASIS Reviewer)
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Year of Publication: |
2007
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Locations: |
Site: |
St Nicholas’ Church, Great Hormead |
County: |
Herefordshire |
District: |
East Hertfordshire |
Parish: |
HORMEAD |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 539977, 229565 (Easting, Northing)
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Subjects / Periods: |
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Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
archaeol2-43931 |
OBIB: |
844/GHC/2 |
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Source: |
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Relations: |
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Created Date: |
01 Feb 2018 |