See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Ovoid chuchyard may indicate a pre-Christian origin, and may represent a contraction of an earlier, unbounded minster churchyard.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1325293: ANONYMOUS GRAVESTONE APPROXIMATELY 4 METRES SOUTH OF EAST END OF CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1325313: COOPER HEADSTONE APPROXIMATELY 15 METRES SOUTH OF SOUTH PORCH OF CHURCH OF ST PETER, ON EAST SIDE OF WALKWAY
• Listed Building (II) 1107614: SAMPSON HEADSTONE APPROXIMATELY 5 METRES SOUTH WEST OF WEST END OF CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1107615: PALMER TOMB CHEST APPROXIMATELY 7 METRES SOUTH OF SOUTH CHANCEL WALL OF CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1107616: PARKIN HEADSTONE APPROXIMATELY 15 METRES SOUTH OF SOUTH PORCH TO CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1107617: SCORE HEADSTONE APPROXIMATELY 15 METRES SOUTH WEST OF WEST END OF CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1107618: PAIR OF STONES TO HEAD AND FOOT OF COPP GRAVE CIRCA 18 METRES SOUTH WEST OF WEST END CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1107619: LYCHGATE TO CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II) 1107652: FLEMING HEADSTONE APPROXIMATELY 5 METRES SOUTH OF EAST END OF CHURCH OF ST PETER
• Listed Building (II*) 1163217: CHURCH OF ST PETER

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CHURCHYARD (Saxon - 701 AD to 1065 AD (Between))

Full description

Corcos, N., 2011, Land at Fremington Army Camp, Fremington, North Devon: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, 9 (Report - Assessment). SDV348712.

Ovoid churchyards such as this have been claimed to be an indication of early (pre-Christian) origin or high status. In the case of Fremington this should be considered along with the fact that Fremington was the head of a, possibly royal, hundred at the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, and that Hall's 2009 survey lists Fremington as a likely minster site.
It is now believed that cemeteries attached to minster churches, as originally established, were generally not the formally bounded areas which they later became. They were unenclosed, and could 'sprawl' over quite large areas around the church with formal boundaries not being established until as late as the 11th or 12th centuries, at which point they represented contractions of originally much larger, earlier cemeteries. It is therefore possible that an antecedent burial ground far larger than at present may have extended around St. Peter's Church.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.