Parish Church of St Nicholas, Chearsley, Buckinghamshire

An Archaeological Watching Brief

For the Parochial Church Council

by Stephen Hammond 

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd

Site Code CCB 02/100

December 2002

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Summary

Site name: The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Chearsley, Buckinghamshire. Grid reference: SP 7203 1032 Site activity: Watching Brief Date and duration of project: 12th - 15th November 2002

Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Stephen Hammond Site code: CCB 02/100 Area of site: 16 sq m Summary of results: The lowering of the ground within the church tower revealed substantial construction cuts for the tower and a possible earlier western entrance or construction cut. Groundworks observed outside the church revealed that the land has been greatly disturbed over time. Monuments identified: Possible entranceway. Location and reference of archive: The site archive is currently held by Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5NR and will be deposited with Buckinghamshire Museum Service in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 12/12.02 Steve Preston 12.12.02

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Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Chearsley, Buckinghamshire An Archaeological Watching Brief

by Stephen Hammond

Report 02/100

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at The Parish Church of St.

Nicholas, Chearsley, Buckinghamshire (SP7203 1032) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Janet Frost of

Alan J Frost Architects, Windmill House, Wingrave, Aylesbury, Bucks HP 22 4PD on behalf of the Parochial

Church Council.

A faculty has been granted by the Oxford Diocese for the digging of a new drain between the church tower

and the public highway and for the taking up of the tower floor. As a condition of the faculty an archaeological

watching brief was to take place during the groundworks. The fieldwork was undertaken by Stephen Hammond

during December 2002. The site code is CCB 02/100.

Location, topography and geology

The Parish Church is located in a hollow on the south side of the modern village of Chearsley, to the south of

Church Lane. It lies just to the west of the River Thame and a moated site. The groundwork inspected included

the tower area of the church and a service trench running from the tower along the southern edge of the footpath

joining Church Lane. The site lies at a height of c. 70m above Ordnance Datum and the underlying geology

according to maps (BGS 1993) is on the border between Portland Formations (sands, limestone and marls) and

Kimmeridge clay. This was confirmed during the watching brief.

Archaeological background

The village church often lies close to the historic (medieval) centre of a settlement and can often have late Saxon

origins. The village itself is likely to have developed from a conglomeration of small, scattered farmsteads and is

mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086. The church contains some elements in its fabric possibly of late Saxon

date as well as those of early Medieval date. The tower was probably added in the late 15th century. To the south

of the church the remains of a medieval moat can be seen in the field above the River Thame. An earlier

investigation of the tower floor (Farley 2000) in two small trenches revealed a full sequence of deposition above

natural clay and revealed deposits which could reflect original construction features and earlier tower floors.

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Objectives and methodology

The purpose of the watching brief were to observe, excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by

groundworks associated with the alterations to the church tower and in particular during the lifting of the tower

floor. Discovery of any human remains that were clearly post-Medieval or modern in date would be summarily

recorded but not otherwise archaeologically excavated. Human bone remains would not be retained but returned

to the church for re-interment. Discovery of any human remains of Medieval or earlier date would be

archaeologically recorded and excavated as necessary. Sufficient time would be allowed to carry this out within

the groundworkers’ schedules without causing undue delay. A programme of environmental sampling would

take place should suitable, well stratified subsoil deposits be located. The entire project would be carried out in

accordance with the Institute of Field Archaeologists’ (IFA) Code of Conduct and following IFA Standards and

Guidance.

Results

Two areas of groundworks were observed; the removal and subsequent lowering of the tower floor levels within

the church and the digging of Manhole 1 outside the church and its associated connection into the church tower

via a hole in tower wall.

The Tower floor

The brick flooring of the tower was removed to reveal a pale yellow sand/mortar bedding layer typically at a

depth of 0.05m. At 0.11m a grey/brown clay silt with occasional brick and tile pieces and charcoal flecking was

observed. Below this could be seen an orange/brown natural clay at a depth of 0.21m. In total the area within the

church tower was dug down 0.38m.

After hand cleaning the new level, original foundation cuts for the tower could be seen running around the

inside of the tower walls (Fig. 3, Pls 1 and 2) with a light grey/brown silty clay fill containing occasional

charcoal flecking and frequent limestone (>0.15m) inclusions. It was decided not to investigate these cuts

further, so as to avoid unnecessary damage to the deposits, since they were below the depths that would be

affected by any further groundwork and thus will be preserved in situ. No dating evidence was recovered

although two pieces of iron slag were found on the surface of the eastern wall foundation trench fill.

Towards the western limit of the new tower level, there appears to be evidence of a thinner, earlier wall

parallel to the extant western wall. A substantial gap in this wall, approximately 1.00m wide, where the

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foundation would join, and aligned on the centre of the nave, could suggest the position of an earlier entrance.

This is not an unambiguous interpretation, as the groundworkers suggested that the disturbance represented

consolidation of a soft, boggy area which would have had to be removed and backfilled with limestone to allow

a more solid surface to build upon. However, the boggy area itself could have been caused by erosion within an

earlier entranceway since only the middle of the tower area was affected, again in line with the nave. If the area

was backfilled with a material that was loose and porous then this would act as kind of sump for the much less

porous natural clay.

Manhole 1

Outside the church, manhole 1 and the associated trench dug to allow access for the hole through the tower wall

were excavated to a depth of 1.27m. Typically the sections observed consisted of 0.28m of dark grey/brown silty

clay topsoil onto disturbed grey/brown silty clay made ground. No natural geology was observed in these

trenches although the trench dug up against the tower wall revealed a foundation cut for the tower 0.60m wide

cutting through the disturbed ground continuing its entire depth.

Finds

Slag

Two pieces of iron slag were recovered from the surface of the eastern construction cut fill in the church tower

weighing 224g.

Conclusion

The removal and subsequent lowering of the ground within the church tower area revealed the original and

substantial wall cuts for the tower. Possible evidence of earlier construction work was also present that could

represent an earlier entrance way into the church. Outside the tower, observations made in the excavated

manhole and the associated trench up against the tower wall failed to locate any undisturbed ‘natural’ clay. This

suggests that the ground around the church has, unsurprisingly, been disturbed.

References BGS, 1993, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 237, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Farley, M, 2000, An investigation beneath the floor of the tower of St Nicholas Church, Chearsley,

Buckinghamshire, Michael Farley Archaeology, Aylesbury PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO

Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Chearsley,Buckinghamshire, 2002

Figure 1. Location of site within Chearsley andBuckinghamshire.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1093 SP61/71 1:25000Ordnance Survey Licence AL523324A0001

11000

12000

SP71000 72000

SITE

CCB 02/100

SITE

Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Chearsley,Buckinghamshire, 2002

Figure 2. Location of site within Chearsley.

10200

10300

10400

SP72100 72200

CCB 02/100

SITE

Tower

CCB 02/100

0

Figure 3. Plan of features observed.

5m

Church of St. Nicholas, Chearsley, Buckinghamshire, 2002

Natural

Modern backfill

Grey clay

Natural

Stone step

Construction cut for tower

Natural

manhole 1

N

Stones (from earlier wall)

Steps upinto nave

(earlier wall)

Plate 1. Interior of tower looking west, horizontal scale 0.5m, vertical scale 1m.

Plate 2. Interior of tower looking south, horizontal scale 1m, vertical scale 0.5m.

CCB 02/100