| Summary: | Although the excavation was somewhat limited in scope, the trenching has nonetheless provided new information on the level of the original floor in- and around the north porch. It is likely that the original ground level at the time of the construction of the north aisle and porch in the early 16th century is represented by the top of deposit (202/306). Although any evidence for earlier flooring inside the porch has been removed by the insertion of the current late 19th or early 20th century tiled floor, this is likely to have been located immediately above the projecting foundations of the north aisle. This would coincide with the external levels and correspond to the assumed height of the late medieval floor inside the north aisle and nave.
Externally the ground has clearly been raised over successive centuries by continued inhumation within the graveyard, phases of alterations and repairs to the external fabric and windows of the church and episodes of reordering and landscaping within the graveyard. The latter is represented by an earlier line of cobbles located against the east elevation of the north porch and perhaps associated with the work undertaken by the architect William Butterfield in the 1840’s. These were subsequently buried by an extensive concrete plinth with inset cobbles extending as far as the east end of the church and associated with an extensive layer of landscaping. This level coincides with the tiled floor inside the porch, the latter perhaps representing late 19th or early 20th century renovations and alterations requiring the insertion of a new step immediately in front of the door leading to the north aisle and the nave beyond.
Finally, the identification of additional floor-tile fragments shows that even small-scale observations in areas of high disturbance are useful in furthering knowledge about the history and development of the former medieval pavements inside St Mary’s. |
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