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Summary

Saxon and medieval parish church

Images

No image caption available © Hertfordshire County Council

Monument Types

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

Associated Events

• Monitoring of groundworks at St Mary's Church, Northchurch, 2009
• Test pits at St Mary's Church, Northchurch, 2001

Protected Status

• Listed Building (A) 355477: CHURCH OF SAINT MARY
• Listed Building 6/19
• Listed Building (I) 157752: CHURCH OF SAINT MARY
• Area of Archaeological Significance

Full description

Totternhoe stone crossing tower, the remainder flint. The south and part of the west wall are Saxon, and the thickness of the walling at the west end suggests that a separate chamber existed west of the nave proper. Chancel is 13th century; transepts 13th and 14th century. Crossing tower was rebuilt in the 15th century. Some 19th century additions <1, 2, 3>.
Some historical sources suggest that this was the parish church of Berkhamsted before St Peter's [9092] was built; Berkhamsted was originally part of Northchurch parish <4>.
Five test pits along the north, east and south sides of the church uncovered 19th century foundations; the foundations on the south side of the nave were of a different character and almost certainly an earlier phase. Two child inhumations were found in a test pit at the north side of the north western corner of the church. There were no finds <4>. Monitoring of a new drain against the north wall in 2009 found several burials disturbed by the construction of the north aisle in the 19th century <6>.
A plan dated 1808 shows a much smaller building <5>.
Within the churchyard is the grave of Peter the Wild Boy (d.1785) <7, 8>.

Roberts, Eileen, 1974, Totternhoe stone and flint in Hertfordshire churches; Medieval Archaeol 18, 66-89 (Article in serial). SHT2130.

Smith, Terence Paul, 2001, Early recycling: the Anglo-Saxon and Norman re-use of Roman bricks with special reference to Hertfordshire; IN Alban and St Albans, Roman and medieval architecture, art and archaeology, eds. Martin Henig & Phillip Lindley, 111-17 (Article in monograph). SHT2762.

<1> Taylor, H M, & Taylor, J, 1965, Anglo-Saxon architecture; vols 1 & 2, - p462 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2989.

<2> OS Records (Index). SHT8223.

<3> RCHM (England), 1911, Inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire, - p156 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9222.

<4> Crank, Nicholas A, & Murray, Jon, 2001, St Mary's Church, Northchurch, Herts: an archaeological evaluation, RNO 1300 (Report). SHT2772.

<5> Anon?, 1808, (Plan of Northchurch) HCRO:AH 684 (Cartographic material). SHT5009.

<6> Koziminski, Marcin, 2009, Church of St Mary, Northchurch, Herts: archaeological investigation, recording and reporting, RNO 2339 (Report). SHT1617.

<7> English Heritage, Advice (consultation report) on proposed listing or amendment to listing, Nov 2012 (Unpublished document). SHT1012.

<8> Listed Buildings description (Digital archive). SHT6690.

Sources and further reading

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