Building record 1027/1/4 - Churchyard Boundary Wall, St Denys

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken during the rebuilding of part of the wall in 2000. No deposits predating the 19th century were identified.

{1} The rebuilding of the churchyard wall involved the demolition of approximately 90m of the existing boundary wall with minimal cutting back of churchyard deposits (up to 150mm) and the digging of new foundations up to 600mm deep. The boundary in question forms the curved north and east boundary fronting onto Church Land and Thornby Road.
The demolition of the churchyard wall was carried out in several long sections. Detailed descriptions of each section are given.
Much of the first section to the west (A-B) was already partly shuttered when inspected, however from the visible parts it was clear that no archaeological remains were present so the shuttering was not removed. The entire visible section was cleaned and drawn.
Sections C-D, C-E and F-G were examined without shuttering, cleaned and drawn. Section E-F could not be drawn as the steel work for the new concrete wall was in place at the time of inspection. However limited inspection did not reveal any significant archaeological remains and much of the section had recently collapsed. It was from the rubble backing to this section of the wall revetting that a gravestone of 1855 and a Coca Cola bottle was recovered by the contractors. It is inscribed 'J.E. 1855' and probably originally marked the foot of the nearby grave of John Evans who died February 24th 1855.
The spoil heaps and stone stacks were also examined as far as possible for artefacts and dressed building stone, but without success.
The construction of a revetting wall was probably necessitated by the changing levels within the churchyard. This revetting probably involved cutting back or even building up the edge of the churchyard to a vertical face. The vertical face behind the demolished wall consisted of natural ground, overlain by a thick and uniform layer of sandy earth which in turn was sealed by topsoil. The layer of sandy earth was periodically interrupted by zones of mixed rubble and earth. These are probably the result of intermittent collapses and repairs to the wall and outer edge of the churchyard, though some may represent the rubble backing of the churchyard wall which was not entirely removed. There is no evidence that any of these features predate the C19th.

<1> Ivens R.J., 2000, Archaeological Recording Action at the Church of St Denys, Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire, p.2-10 (checked) (Report). SNN100717.

Record last edited

Mar 9 2021 11:10AM