Day 35 -Exploring the loose ends

We have now lifted the last of the burials that we intend to excavate in the chancel of the Anglo-Saxon church.  We are now confident that burial did not start in this area until after the church was demolished, probably in the 13th Century.  We are also confident that the odd ‘niches’ cut in the chancel wall were the result of grave cuts, so we have resolved that mystery deriving from Canon Jenkins.

Up at the War Memorial trench, we continue to clean back to reveal pits and post holes, plus the wall foundation that is visible in the picture below.  We believe this is later than most of the features so far uncovered, but unfortunately we have found very little dating evidence from this area since the exciting discovery of sealed mid Saxon pottery, confirming that at least some of these structures were part of the early monastery contemporary with the 7th Century church.