Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

Churchyard of St Nicholas’ Chapel.
Previously recorded under NHER 5549.

1996-1997. Survey.
St Nicholas' Chapel was included in the 1996-1997 Town Gardens Survey undertaken by the Norfolk Gardens Trust.
See report (S1) for details.
H. Hamilton (HES), 08 September 2017.

August 2014-July 2015. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of various groundworks undertaken as part of a lengthy programme of conservation and improvement works at St Nicholas' Chapel. The external works included the removal and replacement of the later 19th-century ‘moat’ revetment walls and steps around the south-west tower, the installation of a foul sump, the replacement and modification of paths, new service trenches and the excavation of numerous small pits for scaffold ties adacent to the walls of the chapel.
A 70m long cable trench excavated to the north of the chapel revealed evidence for post-medieval landscaping. A layer of pale greyish brown clay silt was exposed beneath the cemetery soil that contained fragments of medieval to post-medieval ceramic building material, along with pottery and other household rubbish. The finds recovered suggest that this material was most likely lain down in the mid to late 18th-century. The overlying soils contained material of a similar age, along with some objects of late 18th- to 19th-century date. Only a small amount of medieval pottery was recovered from the trench and there were no signs of any grave cuts along its length, with only small amounts of highly fragmentary disarticulated human remains collected. It is possible that these landscaping deposits were associated with a known episode of beautification that took place in 1749, when the first phase of grave marker clearance and relocation began. Further landscaping works are known to have taken place in the 19th to early 20th century, when the majority of the remaining upstanding gravestones were relocated to the perimeter of the cemetery. Features likely to have been associated with this more recent phase of landscaping included a path that was exposed close to the north-west corner of the chapel. This comprised a paved surface of irregular gravestone fragments that lay between two brick walls that may have defined the edges of an earlier path. At its western end the cable trench exposed the footings of the 18th-century, brick churchyard wall. These were set over pre-existing footings of a notably different fabric that presumably represented the remains of an earlier wall predating the mid-18th century beautification of the churchyard. Three unexcavated graves were also exposed at this point.
Minor landscaping works to the west of the tower exposed part of a gravelled surface that was laid over a compacted soil make-up layer that was rich in post-medieval brick rubble. These deposits represent the remains of a path that can be seen on the late 19th-century Ordnance Survey 1:500 Town Plan map. It was observed that the soils in this area include a particularly large amount of disarticulated human bone, this was presumably the result of Victorian landscaping associated with the creation of the current drainage moat around the tower.
The densest concentration of archaeologically significant remains was revealed during the excavation of two new service trenches to the south and south-west of the tower. The earliest deposit exposed was a probable make-up deposit of wet, sterile mid orangey brown clay silt that was seen near the tower. This was overlain by a deposit that contained medieval brick and roof tile fragments and pieces of limestone that probably represented debris associated with 13th-century construction activity. A row of very poorly-preserved medieval burials was exposed close to the tower moat, several of which were significantly intercut, suggesting more than one burial phase. Seven post-medieval graves were cut into a deposit containing finds of 15th- to 17th-century date that sealed the medieval graves. There was evidence that at least two of these later graves had contained individuals buried in coffins, one of which was associated with a decorated tin plate of probable late 18th-century date. A brick tomb was also partially exposed that had a similar fabric to that of the mid 18th-century churchyard wall. This tomb had been disturbed on at least one previous occasion and filled with large volumes of highly disorganised charnel and loose soil. It is possible that it was levelled when the area around the tower was landscaped during the latter half of the 19th century, becoming a convenient place to rebury remains that were disinterred elsewhere during this work. The upper soils in this area were also found to contain frequent fragments of disarticulated human remains. Other features observed in these service trenches included a probable holloway that had been infilled at some point during or after the 17th century and replaced by a gravel path bordered by brick walling. A deep post-medieval layer encountered in the south-west corner of the churchyard appears to have been further evidence for 18th-century landscaping and contained a number of disarticulated skulls and other skeletal elements. Two coffin burials were clearly cut into this deposit and two further burials were identified close to the south-west gate, both of which were aligned with the path. The foundations of an earlier boundary wall built from ?barnack-type limestone blocks were also observed close to the gateway.
Work to remove the Victorian tower steps and moat retaining walls also revealed significant archaeological deposits, including a number of burials. To the west of the tower the silt deposits exposed in the base of the trench were overlain by a rough cobbled surface that was overlain by a sequence of medieval make-up deposits that were presumably lain down after work began on the construction of the chapel in around 1200. The deepest burials in this area were encountered at a depth of 0.7-1m below the current ground surface and comprised a well-spaced row of very poorly-preserved adult individuals. Although no coffin furniture was present staining suggested one individual had been buried in a straight-sided coffin. These medieval graves were overlain by a further sequence of burials that were associated with the remains of young children and juveniles. Coffin fittings were again absent, although one of the burials was associated with a clear coffin stain. Although no dating evidence was recovered from these burials their stratigraphic position coupled with the lack of any recent finds suggests they were most likely of later medieval to early post-medieval date. These works also exposed the substantial footings of the 13th-century tower itself, which were shown to comprise imported limestone and large cobbles. Similar cobbles have been identified in the fabric of other medieval buildings in the town and are believe to be ships' ballast, possibly loaded at Baltic ports. The south porch buttress footings were also exposed following the removal of a Victorian stone block retaining wall.
The scaffolding pits excavated along the north and south walls also exposed brick footings beneath the level of the visible stone ashlar work. One of the holes excavated against the south wall of chapel also exposed a neonatal burial, which was left in place just below the topsoil.
As would be expected the small assemblage of medieval pottery includes a number of sherds from vessels likely to have arrived via coastal trade, the most notable of which is a sherd of Saintonge gritty ware that is possible the first of its kind recorded in the region. The other medieval and post-medieval finds are largely unremarkable.
See report (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 April 2018.

Monument Types

• INHUMATION CEMETERY (Undated)
• EXTENDED INHUMATION (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• EXTENDED INHUMATION (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• GRAVE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• GRAVE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• EXTENDED INHUMATION (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
• GRAVE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• TOMB (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

• SHEET (Unknown date)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• CAME? (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• COIN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• OYSTER SHELL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• POT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• POT MEND? (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• SLAG (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• WEIGHT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BOTTLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BUTTON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• COFFIN FITTING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• COIN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• OYSTER SHELL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• POT (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2050 AD)
• RING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• WINDOW (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

Related records