Monument record CHW 036 - Churchyard of All Saints Church

Churchyard of the medieval All Saints Church (CHW 002).

2020: Archaeological monitoring of groundworks associated with the insertion of drainage beneath the access pathway to the church revealed a large quantity of human bone in grave soil beneath the path in the area closest to the church. The porch on the N side of the church, from which the path extends, was a Victorian addition to the building and the path was presumably installed at a similar date. The course of the previous path was changed to allow access to the new entrance. The disarticulated human bone might therefore represent earlier burials which were disturbed when the path was created in the 19th century and the subsequent adjacent services installed in the 20th century. No intact graves were present beneath the path through the graveyard and the large amount of disarticulated bone was present only in the area closest to the church. The disarticulated bone might represent burials associated with the previous medieval church which were disturbed when the path was created, and the remains were subsequently redeposited. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2020 (S1).

2020: The monitoring revealed a large quantity of human bone was present in gravesoil 1001 beneath the path in the area closest to the church. The porch on the north side of the church from which the path extends was a Victorian addition to the building and the path was presumably installed at a similar date. The course of the previous path was changed to allow access to the new entrance. The disarticulated human bone might therefore represent earlier burials which were disturbed when the path was created in the 19th century and the subsequent adjacent services installed in the 20th century. There has reportedly been a church on this site since at least the 12th century. The human bone could therefore be from earlier burials belonging to the previous medieval church. However, since the bone has been redeposited and is no longer in its primary context, dating was not possible and their age and origin cannot be confirmed. The monitoring successfully identified that no intact graves were present beneath the path through the graveyard and that instead a large amount of disarticulated bone was present only in the area closest to the church. The disarticulated bone might represent burials associated with the previous medieval church which were disturbed when the path was created and the remains were subsequently redeposited (S2).