Archaeology of the Church

There have recently been a number of archaeological finds in the church which are currently being preserved and recorded. A full report will be eventually published here, but in the meantime the following is a brief description of what has been found:

Architectural fragments have been found in both the church boiler room and the rubble core of the tower (the latter during recent restoration work). The items from the boiler room are believed to originate from within the parish church and were first discovered during the major restoration of the church at the end of the 19^th century. Those from the tower probably came originally from Missenden Abbey and were used as hard core when the tower was enlarged in the 16^th or 17^th century.

Pieces discovered include:

• Large 13^th century window mullion, from the abbey.
• Part of a 15^th century ornamental battlement, from the abbey.
• Part of a pair of arches, possibly from the severely damaged sedilia on the right side of the chancel. 14^th century.
• Part of a tomb, chantry or suchlike structure in the abbey. One side covered in red paint. Also, traces of blue and yellow survive. Late medieval.
• Piece of cornice from a 13^th/14^th century internal decorative feature, from the parish church.
• Female saint, without head or arms, from the parish church.
• Fragment of the original 12^th century font bowl from this church. The present bowl is a poor quality replacement. In its original state it would have been very similar to a font in Bledlow church.
• Column from a medieval feature.
• Very damaged fragment of a mid-medieval internal structure, possibly the screen that once ran across the front of the chancel. It shows the top of a niche in which a statuette would have been placed.

During the placement of drainage pipes for the new toilets and kitchen a ~6000 year old flint tool was found in a ditch south-west of the tower.

Links:

• Don't miss the 'Virtual Tour' of the Church.
  Click here for an interactive visit.
  
• Society for Church Archaeology - aims to promote the study of churches and other places of worship.