Series: Sarah Bates unpublished report series

Monitoring excavation of three small test holes during architect's opening up works Archaeological monitoring was undertaken during architects’ opening up works to investigate the condition of the east wall of the outer court at Caister Castle. Three very small test holes were dug at the internal base of the wall. A cobbled surface was exposed in one test hole and elsewhere, near the SE corner, a brick footing was seen. In the third test hole the lower part of the brick wall was exposed.

A trench (approx 2msq was excavated on the inside/against the east wall of the churchyard for engineers to investigate the condition of the wall which is leaning outwards. Excavation was by hand, by site contractors under supervision of archaeologist. The trench was shored and a small hole was dug to the depth of the bottom of the wall Excavation and recording was undertaken in St John Maddermarket churchyard in advance of engineers’ investigations of the churchyard wall’s condition. A trench at the inside of the churchyard’s retaining eastern wall was shored and dug to a maximum depth of 1.85m . The bottom of the churchyard wall exposed at approximately 1.70m and no wall footing was present. A small amount of ‘cleaner’ slightly clayey sand was at and below the base of the wall but the excavated deposits mostly comprised orange brown sandy silt churchyard soils, and topsoil. Occasional fragments of human bone were recovered but no intact articulated burials were disturbed. Finds included pottery of Late Saxon to modern date, pieces of 18th-19th-century wall tile and post-medieval roof tile, 17th to 19th-century clay tobacco pipe, a worked bone disc (probably part of an 18th-century thread spool), a 19th-century porcelain doll’s arm and oyster shell. The human remains were reburied in the trench.

Archaeological monitoring was undertaken during drainage works at Snetterton Church. Small parts of the footings and foundation of the tower nave and north aisle were recorded including a chamfered stone course at the base of the tower buttresses. A very small number of human bone fragments were found in two trenches but no burials were exposed during the drainage works. The bone fragments were reburied below the trenches from which they came. A pit containing compacted chalk or lime was recorded in a drain trench to the north of the tower. It was thought that this probably represented the slaking or storage of lime during construction or previous repair work. The pit was undated. A smaller area of similar material was exposed in a trench to the south of the tower. Traces of mortar rubble, probably construction deposits, were seen in each of two catchpit trenches but they were not well defined. Two architectural stone fragments and an iron object (of modern date and possibly relating to a grave marker) were the only finds made. They were photographed and were not removed from the churchyard.

Archaeological monitoring was undertaken during drainage and building improvements at Beighton Church. The church's medieval footings were exposed in a few small areas including below the pier at the west end of the south arcade, outside the west end of the south aisle and near the tower's south-west buttress. The nineteenth century vestry footing were also seen as well as the sub-floor deposits within the vestry although these were not excavated. Some bricks and a concrete feature were recorded in an area dug for a trench arch drain to the north of the church. They probably represented a former gravestone and a soakaway respectively. Two pews were removed from each of the south aisle and nave but disturbance was minimal and nothing of archaeological significance was seen. No archaeological finds were recovered during the work. An in situ burial was slightly disturbed below the church path and a small amount of human bone was recovered from here (and a few disarticulated fragments found in other trenches). Reinterment of the human remains was arranged by the PCC.

Results of archaeological monitoring during drainage and building improvements. A small area of scorched soil and chalk-flecked silt or clay near the north vestry may have related to a semi-industrial process associated with historical building work. A concentration of rubble seen near the north doorway may have related to 15th-century demolition and rebuilding of the west end of the church. Some church footings, mainly at buttresses, were exposed and a clayey layer along the base of the north side of the building may have represented previous damp-proofing of the church. Evidence for at least ninety-five burials was recorded including those of adults, juveniles and infants. Additional burials evident at greater depths were undisturbed by the works. Evidence for coffins was seen in some cases and one wooden coffin was partly exposed. Of note were two individuals with healed fractures to a leg, and the double burial of two prematurely or new born infants. Finds included two or three pieces of prehistoric struck flint and two fragments from a probable Bronze Age loomweight. Pottery of possible Iron Age/Early Saxon, late Saxon, and medieval date was found along with a few fragments of possible Roman tile, medieval floor tile and brick, and fragments of medieval worked limestone and window glass. A post-medieval belt or strap loop, a few pieces of cattle bone and a few oyster shells were also found. The human remains were reinterred in a trench dug for the purpose in the north-west area of the churchyard.

Archaeological monitoring was undertaken during the installation of a lavatory and kitchenette and associated services at Thursford Church. At the 19th-century north aisle a stepped brick footing stood upon a substantial flint footing, possibly of earlier date although this was uncertain; previously the church was not thought to have had an earlier north aisle. At the south-west vestry a small part of a roughly made flint footing was exposed. Within the vestry, and in a narrow channel ('Trench' 12) excavated across the nave and north aisle sub-floor deposits of sandy crushed mortar rubble were seen and, in the nave, part of a brick heating duct was exposed. In situ burials were very slightly exposed in the trench for the trench arch drain and in the service trench near the vestry but they were below the required depth for the drains and were re-covered with soil. Nothing else of interest was seen in the excavated trenches. A new water supply pipe was connected to the mains at Church Lane and ran across the field to the east of the church. A slight concentration of flint and brick rubble near the west side of the field may have related to a building shown on a 19th-century map. Archaeological finds included a few pieces of prehistoric struck flint, sherds of Late Saxon, medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds and single fragments of post-medieval roof tile (possibly reused in a kiln), worked limestone and possible fired clay. A small amount of disarticulated human bone found during the work was reinterred in the churchyard.

Contractors work involved removal of a brick/concrete gully from the perimeter of the building, installation of new drainage and removal of render from/re-rendering of some walls. Footings exposed E and N of the chancel represented a building pre-dating the ?15th-C brick extension to the 12th-C compartment. They showed the position either of a ?13th-C extension to the 12th-C chancel or, possibly, due to their slightly different alignment to the existing walls, an earlier structure. Evidence for at least seven burials was recorded; bones of an infant were found near the nave's blocked N doorway, two possible medieval burials were recorded SW of the tower and another (post-medieval) at the E end of the church. Three burials were identified but undisturbed, and other burials existed at greater depth in some areas. Examination of the walls (on site and/or from photographs), following removal of render, allowed description and interpretation of architectural detail. A previously unknown semi-circular headed window was exposed in the chancel's S wall (truncated by a later window), and it was seen that the nave was rendered prior to the construction of the south porch, itself seen to be earlier (?15th-C) than previously considered possible (19th-C). Brick detail, along with historical evidence, suggested a possible link with St Olave's Priory. The reason for a large vertical disturbance in the N wall of the chancel was unknown (possible interpretations include a former flue or buttress or crack in the wall). Finds recovered included a Roman tile fragment, Late Saxon, medieval and post-medieval pottery, medieval floor tile, and medieval and post-medieval brick and window glass. Human remains recovered during the work were left in the care of the church for reinterment.

Archaeological monitoring during drainage works in Swannington churchyard. Footings and foundation deposits were slightly exposed in some areas around the church. A mortared flint footing or wall exposed just east of the 19th-century vestry might have represented an earlier structure although it was quite slight. Mortar rubble recorded to the west and north might possibly have related to the demolition of a structure. North-east of the chancel soil exposed in a trench-base may have represented the limit of the churchyard prior to extension in 1913. To its east was natural sand relatively undisturbed by burials. Five burials were partly exposed to north-west. They probably represented more than one period of burials, including post-medieval. Three brick tombs of likely 19th-century date were exposed just west of the church; at least two were probably associated with surviving headstones. The vaulted tops of two of the tombs were partly removed to enable the drainage works and afforded some opportunity to see detail of construction and whitewashed internal faces. The tombs were re-covered by the contractors. Unfortunately, inside the building, replacement of floors and removal of concrete from pier bases was not observed. It appeared, however, that little disturbance occurred and that floor levels had previously been lowered. Finds recovered during the work include a prehistoric utilised flint flake, a Roman roof tile fragment, some medieval pottery sherds, an unusual glazed late medieval floor tile fragment, pieces of post-medieval brick, roof tile and window glass, an oyster shell and a few iron nails and pieces of lead waste. Human remains recovered during the work were reinterred by church officials, the position marked with a wooden cross.

Archaeological monitoring during installation of lavatory at Hickling Church. Parts of the footings and foundation of the tower and north aisle were recorded. In the tower a 14th to 15th-century Flemish-type tiled floor was exposed. Alongside the north wall , the floor was overlaid by a solid mortar and fliIn the eastern central area of the towernt footing which might have represented a feature alongside the wall (a bench?). The glazed tiles were better preserved beneath the footing and very eroded elsewhere. To the east some bricks may have replaced part of the floor or represented the base for a feature (a font?) and a sunken area included 18th and 19th-century brick in its infill. Within the sunken area and spread across the rest of tower area was a layer of sand bedding for a brick surface; either a floor, or a base for the existing floor. In the churchyard, several human skulls were exposed in a water pipe trench and were probably in situ but their removal from the ground was not necessitated. At least nine burials were identified in the trench for the trench arch drain, one with a vaulted brick tomb (probably 19th-century). Disturbed soils in other trenches showed that burials also existed in those areas but none were exposed. A small path or grave surround was recorded and a blocked modern soakaway was replaced during the work. A medieval/early post-medieval finger ring and part of some post-medieval possible tweezers were found as well as late medieval and post-medieval pottery, a piece of medieval building stone, medieval, post-medieval and modern brick, medieval and modern floor tile, post-medieval window glass, a 16th or 17th-century clay tobacco pipe fragment, part of a modern glass bottle, a cattle mandible and an oyster shell. Disarticulated human bone, found in several trenches, was left in the care of the church for reinterment.

Archaeological monitoring was undertaken during upgrading the electricity supply and installing a water supply at St Peter's Church, Yaxham. Churchyard soil and topsoil were excavated and part of a burial was exposed and was carefully removed from the excavated trench. It was subsequently reburied in the trench under the supervision of the PCC. The only find was a penny dated 1919. Nothing else of archaeological significance was found.