Building record ARG 015 - Church of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew, Aldringham. No recorded Domesday churches in the parish of Aldringham, but it is thought to be included as one of the three churches documented for the parish of Leiston (S3).
Nave and chancel in one; bellcote. Mostly rebuilt after 1842. Fine E Anglian type octagonal font. Details in (S1) etc.

2002:A hand excavated trench was dug in 2002 in advance of a propsed new vestry to the church. This was in an area not known to have graves. On excavation, at least 6 graves were seen with well preserved skeletons, found just below the topsoil. Concluded that intercutting burial activity in this part of the churchyard had been intense. No finds were recovered and the graves could not be dated (S2).

2003: Monitoring was undertaken during ground reduction across the footprint of the new vestry. A maximum of 0.5m was removed at the eastern end of the site, disturbing only the topsoil and upper layers of cemetery soil. No grave cuts were identified (S4)

2009: Prior to the submission of a request for a Faculty covering the consolidation and repair of the wall fabric of the nave and chancel of St. Andrews Church, Aldringham Cum Thorpe, the Diocesan Archaeologist (Robert Carr) asked for the implementation of a programme of building recording and interpretation. Four main phases of construction were recognised with the main body of the church dating to the first half of the 14th century with wall heightening and window insertions occurring later in the 14th or 15th century. Following the partial collapse of the west tower and west end of the nave, a major episode of construction was undertaken in the late 19th century which included the total demolition of the remaining vestiges of the tower, rebuilding of the west end of the nave, a new roof, the addition of a south porch and a vestry on the north side and the insertion of an iron bracing frame throughout the entire structure. The final major phase of construction involved the building in 2002 of a new vestry accessed through its Victorian predecessor (S5).

2015: Evaluation of four test pits located the base of the wall and revealed a layer of gravel-rich render, the depth at which this render continued below ground suggested that the ground level of the churchyard had risen significantly, possibly as the result of bulking up caused by the repeated excavation of graves (S6).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2015 (S7).

Recording was undertaken prior to consolidation works to the north and south walls of the nave and chancel. The body of the nave and chancel was thought to be of early 14th-century date with further window insertions and wall fabric additions of later 14th- century and 15th-century date. The recording was able to define the extent of the 19th century rebuilding at the western end of the nave and the position of the west tower that was also removed at that time. Other insertions and alterations of 19th/20th-century date were also recorded. However, one of the more unusual survivals from the original 14th century structure was a surface treatment comprising a pebble-rich render that clearly pre-dated the window insertions in the later 14th or 15th century. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2008 (S8).