Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton, a major Re-ordering project

Ecclesiastical and monastic archaeology is one of Urban Archaeology's core areas of expertise. Each year we carry out many projects at churches under Faculty -the church equivalent of planning permission, or at cathedrals under the Care of Cathedrals Measure. These projects can range from a one day watching brief on a new water pipe-trench in a parish church, to long term programmes of excavation and building recording at Gloucester Cathedral.
 

Holy Trinity church, with its distinctive truncated spire, sits above the small Cotswold town of Minchinhampton

Whether it is a one day watching brief or a two year recording program, every project receives our full focus and benefits from many years of experience excavating in and around churches of all sizes. We ensure that the potential archaeological risks and impacts are understood by the Parochial Church Council (PCC), architect and contractors, and wherever possible are minimised or designed around. 

Delays and cost over-runs often result from a lack of understanding of legal and Faculty requirements, especially regarding human remains, and of the failure to integrate archaeological work with that of other contractors. We can't ensure that a project won't have unexpected archaeological costs, but we can help project teams create a design and methodology that minimises the archaeological impact, whilst making sure that archaeological work on site is done in an efficient and professional way.

Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton

One current major project is the 're-ordering' of the parish church of Holy Trinity, Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. Urban Archaeology has been working with the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and architect Antony Feltham-King at  St Ann's Gate Architects for over a year to help prepare for the re-ordering, and we are now working on site with specialist conservation building contractor Nick Miles.

Removing rubble and dust from beneath the pews, the spoil is all checked for archaeological remains such as architectural fragments, pottery, bone and small artefacts

Holy Trinity Minchinhamptom: beneath the pews

We are currently busy at Holy Trinity Church Minchinhampton where we are carrying out archaeological recording during a major refurbishment. The church is originally medieval, but the nave, aisles and chancel were completely rebuilt in 1842.The project includes taking up most of the floor to install under-floor heating, and although an evaluation showed the  Victorians stripped out most of the medieval strata, it is a rare opportunity to try and enhance our understanding of the development and appearance of the church.

The first task was recording the Victorian pews and choir stalls, which have now been removed revealing a layer of rubble and dust under the pews dumped by the Victorian builders. This rubble included fragments of the medieval church like this wonderful masons' setting out design, shavings from the installation or alteration of the pews, fragments of sculptural plaster, and worked architectural fragments that will help reconstruct the appearance of the pre-Victorian church.

Once the pews were removed the rubble layer was exposed and could be sifted through and removed

Wooden shavings from constructing or altering the pews

A mason's setting out slab from Gloucestershire

We've just started work at Holy Trinity Church in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. This medieval parish church is undergoing a major reordering and Urban Archaeology have been acting as the project's archaeological consultants and are carrying out a detailed archaeological watching brief during the works. We're going to be posting a lot more on the project as it progresses, but for the moment here's one of our first findings from beneath the pews….
 

The limestone slab with inscribed design