| Title: |
Archaeological Monitoring of Drainage Works All Saints Church, Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire |
| Series: |
Northern Archaeological Associates unpublished report series
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| Downloads: |
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northern1-512926_208513.pdf (13 MB)
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| Biblio Note |
This report was uploaded to the OASIS system by the named Publisher. The report has not been reviewed by the relevant HER. The report has been transferred into the ADS Library for public access and to facilitate future research.
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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: |
Archaeological monitoring undertaken during drainage works within the churchyard of All Saints’ Church, Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire. All Saints’ is the parish church of Rudby-in-Cleveland ecclesiastical parish, and lies within Rudby civil parish in Hambleton District. The drainage works formed part of a wider programme of re-ordering of the church, and were preparatory to a later second phase of work to include an accessible WC within the building. They were carried out under a Faculty issued by the Chancellor of the Diocese of York.
All Saints’ Church is Listed Grade 1 (No.1150240). The English Heritage listing reports that the existing building has an early 14th century nave and south aisle, the aisle having been extended westward and the south tower porch added in the 15th century. The chancel also dates from the 14th century but was partially re-built in the 18th century, and the church was extensively restored in 1892 and again in 1923-4. However, a church is recorded at Rudby, presumed to be on the site of the present chancel, in 1150. Some fabric of the Norman church probably survives within the north chancel wall.
The excavation works were undertaken across the part of the churchyard lying between the church and the road to the west. They consisted of a trench excavated from near the external north-western corner of the nave, running a short distance westwards within a pathway, then turning south following a second path past the western end of the church. Where it met another path adjacent to the south-western corner of the nave the trench then turned west, following the line of the path to a gate through the churchyard wall immediately to the south of Rose Cottage. Another short length of trench was excavated in order to connect the western part of the new trench to an existing water supply through the churchyard wall a short distance to the south of the gate. The new water supply then shares the drain trench to the church. In addition to the main drain run, a short spur was excavated to the southern end of the western nave wall, with a small hole cut through the wall to an internal reception pit within the south-western corner of the nave. Monitoring of the recent drainage works at All Saints’ Church did not identify any significant archaeological remains or artefacts. Most of the excavated material around the north-west corner and immediately to the west of the church had previously been disturbed by construction of earlier drains and other services. Elsewhere, the trench was mainly cut through a rather ‘blank’ homogeneous soil deposit. The presence of disarticulated human bones within this material suggests that its homogeneous character may be the result of repeated re-deposition during excavation of numerous graves during a millennium of use as a churchyard.
The human remains observed during the works make it clear that the area below the path running westwards towards the churchyard gate adjacent to Rose Cottage was formerly used for burials not reflected in the surviving headstones. Additionally the complete absence of any metal coffin furniture or nails accompanying the disarticulated human remains encountered during the works suggests that these may represent primarily part of the the medieval burial population.
It was also clear that the abrupt cessation of remains some 9m inside the existing churchyard boundary suggests that the medieval churchyard may originally have been rather more limited in extent, or that its footprint expanded westwards when the church was greatly extended in that direction during the 14th century. |
| Author: |
Gavin Speed
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| Publisher: |
Northern Archaeological Associates
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| Year of Publication: |
2014
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| Locations: |
| District: |
Hambleton |
| County: |
North Yorkshire |
| Country: |
England |
| Parish: |
Rudby |
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Grid Reference: 447189, 506659 (Easting, Northing)
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| Subjects / Periods: |
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| Identifiers: |
| OASIS Id: |
northern1-512926 |
| Report id: |
NAA 14/98 |
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| Source: |
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| Relations: |
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| Created Date: |
18 Aug 2023 |
