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Summary

12th century parish church which replaced a Saxon church, possibly with 8th or 9th century origins

Images

No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council

Monument Types

• PARISH CHURCH (Late Saxon to Medieval - 870 AD to 1500 AD)

Associated Events

• Excavation and recording beneath the nave floor of Bygrave church, 1993

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II*)

Full description

Small building with 12th century nave and south door, 14th century chancel and mostly 15th century windows. The church is constructed of clunch and brick and flint rubble with plaster work, Roman tiles [4056] in NE and SE nave quoins and slate roofs. Features include a semi-octagonal stair turret with timber bell cage, 2-light square headed cinqfoiled windows, 12th century S door and 14th century door to N chancel wall. There is also a 15th century font and screen inside the church <1>.
Replacement of the nave floor in 1993 uncovered a sequence of at least four floor levels <2>. Examination showed that the nave walls were rebuilt in the 12th century, cutting through at least two earlier floors; the later of these produced late Saxon (10th-11th century) pottery. There was nothing to date the earliest (earth) floor, although residual 8th-9th century pottery found in later deposits inside and outside the standing building is suggestive. Some Roman pottery was found against the north nave wall <2>.
Other features recorded in 1993 were the foundation of the 12th-century nave east end, before the present chancel was built; two or three medieval bell-casting pits; two possible late medieval graves and a series of later graves beneath the nave (including an early 19th century brick vault) <2>.
The church stands adjacent to the medieval manorial centre [854].

<1> Listed Buildings description (Digital archive). SHT6690.

<2> Burleigh, G R, 1993, Archaeological recording at St Margaret's church, Bygrave, August - September 1993: a brief summary report (Unpublished document). SHT9590.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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