Monument record 1301/2 - Late Saxon & Early Medieval Church at Furnells

A simple church had been built in the late 9th or 10th centuries which was extended in the mid 10th century, rebuilt by the 11th century and ceased in ecclesiastical use by the 12th century. In the late 14th century the whole manorial complex was reorganised. The church and manor were demolished and a new manor built on the site of the church. The excavation found 363 burials dating to the late Saxon period, including two burials with decorated grave slabs.

{4} Remains of a late Saxon/early medieval church were later incorporated into a C14th manor house.

{9} During these small excavations the foundations of stone buildings were uncovered. The discovery of burials and decorated Saxon grave slabs indicated the former presence of a Saxon chapel or church.
Full scale excavation began in 1977 with the removal of stone demolition rubble from the two main earthwork platforms and the surrounding area. The walls and foundations of a medieval manor were revealed, and on further excavation the foundations of a series of Saxon churches were discovered under the east end of this manor house.

{5} The first church was very small, comprising a single cell 4.5m x 3.1m. The floors were of rough hewn limestone bonded with mortar and resting on two layers of clay-bonded limestone foundations. The presence of decayed mortar suggests that the walls were plastered, probably both internally and externally. Recovered architectural fragments indicate the provision of decorative door and window surrounds. The door was at the western end of the southern church wall. An elongated stone-lined pit against the inside west wall may have held uprights for a timber bellcote. To the east a complete pottery vessel placed within a shallow pit and sealed beneath the floor may have been placed there during consecration of the church. It was perhaps used as a sacrarium and later as a piscina, situated immediately wets of the altar which stood at the end of the nave. These features provide rare evidence for late Saxon liturgical practice.
A small chancel 2.65m x 3.1m was constructed slightly later, but built in the same fashion as the nave. It contained a stone foundation against the eastern wall which may be the base of a clergy bench. Behind it remnants of original wall plaster survived. As all the adjacent burials respect the chancel it is posisble that buiral commenced only after its construction.
The first church is the earliest use of building stone on the site, and provides the context for the appearance of several extensive but shallow stone quarries around the margins of the late Saxon ditched plots to the north, south and west.

The rebuilding of the church took place during the second half of the C12th, perhaps as early as 1150, well before the construction of the 'western' manor house. The nave of the new church was 7.55m loong x 4.58m wide, and the chancel 4.68m long x 3.48m wide. Figs.5.28, 5.35, 3.9. The walls stood on broad foundations 1m wide and comprised of two courses of pitched limestone for the nave, and three courses for the chancel. The norrth side of the rebuilt church disturbed underlying burials. It is not certain whether burial at this church continued during this phase, and it is possible that at this time this function was transferred across the valley to St Peter's Church, the second church at Furnells effectively becoming a manorial chapel.
At some point a cross-wall was inserted within the nave of the church. This suggests that a church tower was raised over the western end of the nave.
The final date of disuse of the church has not been established, however it had clearly gone out of use prior to the construction of the 'eastern' manor house in the late C14th.

There were in situ or disturbed remains of 363 individuals recovered from within the churchyard, with an estimated total population of c.380-390. The demographic profile is typical of a rural community, with a high level of infant mortality. For adult males the death rate was fairly even, but for females the death-rate peaked in their 20s, no doubt directly or indirectly from childbirth.
An area to the south-east of the church has been interpreted as a founder's plot. The grave of a man aged 35-45 was marked by a fine grave slab of Barnack stone, decorated with interlace. A stone footing at the head end may have been the base for a free-standing cross, and parts of a broken-up cross, decorated with interlace, had been used as an improvised cover for the stone coffin. To the north-west of this an infant burial was marked with a smaller grave slab, decorated with a simple encircled St Andrew's cross.

Around the first church the cemetery developed in an orderly manner. It has been argued that the majority of excavated burials were contemporary with the first church.

{7} During the late 9th or early 10th centuries a single cell church was constructed of cornbrash rubble, with a chancel apparently added before the Norman conquest. During the mid 10th century a cemetery had been started around the church. During the late 11th or early 12th century the first church was demolished and used as levelling material for the construction of a much larger one. The new nave appears slightly misaligned with the chancel, which has been interpreted as due to casual surveying technique. At broadly the same time as this second church was being constructed it appears that burial on the site stopped and at some point probably in the 12th century the ecclesiastical function of the building ceased completely. There are no documentary records for the church at all.

{8} During the latter half of the C10th, two earlier buildings were replaced by the construction of a stone church. During the 11th century the church was replaced and enlarged. The two churches of periods II and III, other buildings associated with the church were discovered during excavation.

{9} During these small excavations the foundations of stone buildings were uncovered. The discovery of burials and decorated Saxon grave slabs indicated the former presence of a Saxon chapel or church.
Full scale excavation began in 1977 with the removal of stone demolition rubble from the two main earthwork platforms and the surrounding area. The walls and foundations of a medieval manor were revealed, and on further excavation the foundations of a series of Saxon churches were discovered under the east end of this manor house.

{10} Study of medieval skeletons (including those from Raunds) reveals that environmental air pollution was serious enough to damage the health of the population. At Raunds maxillary sinuses were found in 42 per cent of the skeletons from Raunds (of which 67 percent of these cases were said to have been caused by environmental as opposed to dental factors).

{11} Settlement remains which were formerly part of Raunds village indicate a complex history of development and it seems likely that the village evolved from a number of centres. Excavations in 1975 exposed a late Saxon graveyard from which came three decorated tombstones (and below this was also evidence of extensive early to middle Saxon occupation).

{12} A study of burial 5046 has confirmed that this individual suffered from leprosy, of a subtype not previously reported in Britain, although examples have been identified in Europe including Denmark. This suggests that the individual was of Scandinavian descent. Furthermore, the individual was buried in the south-east corner of the graveyard in a 'socially-distanced' location.

{13} Suggestion that travellers to the Holy Land might have been responsible for the transmission of subtype 3K of leprosy from south-east Europe to Britain.

<1> FOARD G.R.; PEARSON T., 1985, The Raunds Area Project: First Interim Report, p.3-21 (unchecked) (Article). SNN69970.

<2> BODDINGTON A., 1985, Raunds Furnells: Church and Cemetery, p.17-44 (unchecked) (Report). SNN56711.

<3> 1987, World Archaeology, p.412-425 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN54534.

<4> Parry S., 1993, Raunds Area Survey Report, (unchecked) (Draft). SNN1175.

<5> Audouy M.; Chapman A., 2009, Raunds, The Origin and Growth of A Midland Village, AD 450-1500 (Excavations in North Raunds 1997-87), p.84-88 & 93-95 (part checked) (Report). SNN106414.

<6> Audouy M.; Chapman A., 2009, Raunds, The Origin and Growth of A Midland Village, AD 450-1500 (Part 3: Finds), (unchecked) (Report). SNN106415.

<7> BODDINGTON A.; ET AL, 1996, Raunds Furnells: The Anglo-Saxon church and churchyard (Report). SNN69684.

<8> Cadman G., 1982, Raunds: Excavations 1981/2, an Interim Note, p.95 (checked) (Article). SNN104574.

<9> Northamptonshire County Council, 1979, Raunds 1979, (checked) (Interim Report). SNN68985.

<10> 1995, British Archaeology, p.5 (checked) (Report). SNN44576.

<11> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.191-2 Site 29 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<12> Chapman, A, 2021, Social distancing and leprosy: a medieval example from Raunds, p. 419-422 (Note). SNN112931.

<13> Kerudin, A, Müller, R, Buckberry, J, Knüsel, C J, and Brown, T A, 2019, Ancient Mycobacterium leprae genomes from the mediaeval sites of Chichester and Raunds in England (Article). SNN113647.

<14> Unknown, 2020, Science Notes- Leprosy in medieval England (Article). SNN113648.

<15> Lewis, M E, & Gowland, R, 2007, Brief and precarious lives: Infant mortality in contrasting sites from medieval and post-medieval England (AD 850-1859), p. 117-129 (Article). SNN116230.

<16> Stocker, D, 2006, England's Landscapes: The East Midlands, p. 221-2 (Book). SNN116286.

<17> D.E. Friendship-Taylor (Ed.), 1973, 78-85, Northamptonshire History News, 1979, No 43, p. 14-6, Andrew Boddington (Newsletter). SNN106196.

Record last edited

Feb 13 2025 10:47AM