THE TRENCHES"

Taken from the report of: C Bell (Oxford Archaeology Unit) September 1994

Trench 1
Below the then ground level, the top of the natural gravel was reached at a depth of 1.80 m. In the centre of the trench and cut into the natural, the remains of a pit was found. This pit was circular and measured approximately 1.2 meters in diameter. A small amount of medieval bell mould fragments and copper alloy slag was found within the pit.
Throughout the remainder of the trench skeletal remains were found in a series of – at least seventeen – intercutting graves. The earlier graves, which had been cut away by later burials were undated. Most of the graves contained 19th century coffin fittings, among which was a, still legible, plaque bearing the name, age, and the date of the death of the deceased. (Grave 109, skeleton 114)
The plaque read:
[JO] HN PRICE, DIED 15th SEPTEMBER, 1843, AGED 30 YEARS (NB. Author's brackets.)

Trench 2
Below the then ground level the top of the natural sand and gravel was reached at a depth of 1.70m. The natural layer, and a layer of sandy silt , which overlay the natural were heavily truncated by at least ten intercutting graves, which occurred throughout the trench. In the southwest corner of the trench there were four graves directly overlapping each other. The majority of the graves in this trench contained coffin fittings belonging to the 19th century.
A plaque resembling the one found in Trench 1 was discovered (Grave 230, skeleton 228).
The plaque read:
PETER DAVIS, DIED JULY – 1837, AGED 15 YEARS.
Just within the north end of the trench was the south wall and part of the stone capping of brick lined vault. After part of the capping was removed a collapsed coffin was revealed. The coffin was left in situ and this vault was used to rebury all the human remains discovered during the excavation.
The plaque found in vault 203 read:
WILLIAM HENRY PHILLIPS, DIED 13TH JULY, 1899, AGED 68 YEARS.

Trench 3
Below the then ground level the top of the natural sand and gravel was reached at a depth of 2.0m. A layer of pebbly sandy loam overlay the northern two-thirds of the trench, being somewhat less compact than a similar deposit in the southern third. Both were directly below a layer of sandy loam containing fragments of sandstone and mortar, overlaid by a pebbly silt loam containing fragments of mortar and ceramic tile. Intersecting graves cut all these deposits.
Some of the earliest burials were undated, but most contained coffin fitting dating from the 19th century.
The graves had been cut only 0.30m below the then topsoil and were overlain by a layer of silt loam containing fragments of mortar and tile.

Trench 4
It was necessary to extend the size of this trench (to the north) when an unrecorded vault was discovered at the south end. This vault had been partly truncated by a later brick retaining wall, built at the beginning of this century. The vault, which was divided into compartments, had been partially back-filled at this time and contained at least one burial, still in situ.
However, full excavation of the north end of the vault was not possible due to lack of space for shoring. In the area which was investigated the undisturbed sand and gravel was located at a depth of 2.0m below the then ground level. Overlying the natural was a sequence of sand deposits. No finds were discovered and the deposits were believed to be hill wash.
In the remaining area of the northern extension, four intercutting graves – none of which contained any coffin fittings – were cut into the top of the sand. For safety reasons it was only possible to excavate to a depth of 1.2m into what appeared to be grave fills. At this depth a large ceramic pipe [aligned E-W] was found running through this part of the trench; the use of which was unknown, but it was generally supposed to be a land drain.

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