Building record 0416500000 - ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH

Dimensions - Length 0046 m Width 0018
NAVE & S AISLE WITH S ARCADE OF 4 BAYS BUILT C.1190; C13 LENGTHENED; C. 1320 NEW CHANCEL FURTHER E; C.1340 N AISLE & ARCADE. LATE C14 W TOWER ADDED & CHANCEL WIDENED. 2ND 1/2 C15 CLEARSTOREY. C19 CHURCH RESTORED (B2).
A collection of sketches of Buckinghamshire churches done by Charlotte Pigott, wife of George Pigott, squire of Doddershall in Quainton parish, in the early 1840s (B8).
Test pitting carried out in May 2017 by Thames Valley Archaeology Services inside and outside the church found the following: TEST PIT 1: underneath bricks and concrete of drainage channel a small quntity of distarticulated human bone was recovered. No pottery, but tile and metal work, including portion of a coffin handle were recovered. Below this layer was a further quantity of disrticulated human bone. A brik foundation gad been constructed 0.25m from the original stone foundation; TEST PIT 2: under the modern drainage was brown sandy silt mixed with tile ad brick. This overlay light grey sandy silt containing limestone fragments. Two fragments of floor tile were recovered, one piece medieval glazed floor tile; TEST PIT 3: in the north aisle. Modern concrete slabs were found under the suspended floor; TEST PIT 4: Nave. 19th century material overlay a compact earth surface containing crushed mortar. In the northern part of this test pit was a limestone edged grave aligned west-east. The pelvic area of one in situ burial was overlain by femurs and pelvis of a second. The limestone blocks were 0.15m high. A probable carved slab for the northern edge and an uncarved stone formed the southern edge. No finds were recovered from the grave fill and the bones left in situ; TEST PIT 5: South Aisle. Dark brown-black silty ash was exposed under the suspended floor. Pottery and metal finds from this fill suggest a 19th century date. Under this layer light brown sandy chalk clay contained two fragments of disarticulated infant bone. Three courses of interior stone foundation were exposed, all roughly faced; TEST PIT 6: SW part of the church. Top of a crypt tomb was present in the east and left undisturbed. 0.22m below the surface was a course of unbonded limestone rubble within soft brown yellow sandy clay mixed with occasional coarse mortar. No edge of this material was discovered. May possibly be the base of the original 14th century tower as it is to uneven to be a floor and too substantial for a wall (B9).
Included in Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register in 2017 and 2018. In 2017 condition described as 'Poor; priority category C: Slow decay, no solution agreed'; in 2018 condition described as 'Poor; priority D: Slow decay, solution agreed but not yet implemented' (B10-11).
Remains of earlier phases of the church development were identified, including what appears to be a structural phase older than the current Church. The foundations of a wall aligned West-East was found under the north side, and perpendicular to the Chancel arch. It seems likely that this is a part of the church that pre-dates the 14th century. The only in situ graves encountered in the 2018 works have been those of the east nave, and of particular interest was a possible family group of child burials (Graves 101,102 and 103). Their depth was not indicative of their date, and they were not under immediate threat of destruction so were not fully excavated. The vault in the east of the south aisle was backfilled in the 17th century; the only evidence of this period in the interior, or within any part of the Church fabric (B12).