excavation

The Reason for the Excavation
Some thirty years ago it was suggested that toilets be built onto north side of the church, thereby avoiding the need for members of the congregation to cross a busy road in order to use those in the church hall. Although the matter had been discussed and argued about ever since that time, little had been resolved until a meeting of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) in April 1992 when the question was raised again. On this occasion the Standing Committee promised to review the requirements and, after their meeting on 1 November 1992, the "Building Project" was first put to the PCC. After many years of inspired fund raising under the guidance of the Reverend G.M.F. Williams, the decision to place the contract with Messrs A. M. Griffith was taken at an extraordinary meeting on Sunday 1 August 1999.

Objectives
First. Although nothing has ever been found to substantiate the theory that an Anglo-Saxon church was built in the vicinity, it would seem highly unlikely that the present church came into being without a predecessor..
Second. Tradition has long held the belief that the church is built within an Iron Age hill-fort. Indeed, study of the topography would suggest this theory could be true as there are features, especially, to the north and east of the church that resemble "banks and ditches" typical of such an earthwork.
It was hoped that some evidence might be found to help in the understanding of the history.

Planning
It was understood that to undertake work of this nature would present problems. There would be many legal and ecclesiastical difficulties, not to mention the sensitivity when dealing with human remains. Before any work could be carried out, therefore, members of the church congregation carried out a detailed search of the Parish Register and public records with the intention of finding and tracing survivors of the deceased who might object. After many months only one objection was raised and further investigation proved the remains in question were buried in another part of the graveyard. A "Graveyard Schedule" was compiled, recording and describing the position and inscriptions of the memorials which would to be disturbed.
In a little over a year the investigations and recording were complete and work could begin.

The work begins
On 18 April 1999 a security compound was erected on the green adjacent to the church for the purpose of providing storage for the equipment needed by Necropolis, Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) and, eventually, the building contractor. After initial investigations by OAU, Necropolis would be responsible for the removal of the bodies. The responsibilities of OAU would then take the form of a watching brief. Another fence was erected around the site within the graveyard in order to shield the excavation from public view and work was begun on four trial trenches.

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