Remains of ancient church discovered

THE remains of an ancient church pre-dating the late 12th century have been found at St John the Baptist Church. 

Archaeological investigations carried out at the church, located on Church Street, in March and May this year, uncovered the remains of the ancient church that was once described in the 1120s by 12th century English historian, William of Malmesbury. 

The date of construction of the ancient stone church remains undetermined, but it is hoped that further tests may reveal when it was built. 

Revd Colin Alsbury reports, “Thanks to funding from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage we were able to ask Context One Heritage & Archaeology to investigate the areas below the timber flooring at the West End of St John the Baptist Parish Church in March.  

“This work was undertaken as part of a feasibility study for the potential replacement of some of the timber flooring with a new stone floor in line with ideas suggested by the Diocesan Advisory Committee in relation to our reordering of the Welcome Area at the West End of the church. 

“Trial pits were opened up on each side of the Nave within the second bay from the West End. As was expected evidence of burials within the church was found – no graves were disturbed and any disarticulated remains encountered were reburied. 

“Testing by a structural engineer found the ground to be quite soft with propensity to be unstable on the north side, though a little firmer on the south side. Discussions with our church architect and others have yielded the view that any future replacement of timber flooring by stone would need to be by means of installation of supporting beam structure rather than being supported by the potentially unstable earth floor. 

“A further pair of trial pits were opened near the centre of the Nave close to the line at which the late 12th century building is believed to have ended. Substantial brick walled crypts with stone capping were found in the middle of the Nave. Evidence of robbed foundations in this area and some remnants of stone walling together with the evidence of instability at the west end allowed an extension of permissions to investigate and Context One returned in May to conduct further work funded by St John’s Restoration Fund. 

“The archaeological investigations discovered the west wall and long side walls of a building that pre-dated the late 12th century church. A significant linear disturbance immediately west of that line appears to indicate where the west end wall of the late 12th century church was removed during the extension of the church to its present size in the early 15th century. 

“A corner of walling on the south side of the Nave and related robbed foundations on the north side indicate the presence of a stone building exceeding 10 metres in length with an internal width of 4 metres, and with a slightly lower internal floor level than the later medieval church.  

“This earlier building stood on the site prior to the late 12th century rebuilding work done under the direction of the Abbot of Cirencester, the then Rector. 

“These remains are consistent with being those described by William of Malmesbury in the early 12th century when he wrote of a stone church on the site larger than that at Bradford on Avon: “Stat ibi adhuc et vicit diuturnitate sua tot secula” – ‘It stands there still surviving the centuries’ [Anglia Sacra vol 2 pp7-8].  

“As yet the date of construction of that stone church remains undetermined but it is hoped that some samples awaiting Radiocarbon dating may yield scientific evidence relating to its lifetime.”