Landscape record MDR23793 - Graveyard, All Saints Church, Church Lane, Weston Underwood

Graveyard at All Saints Church, Church Lane, Weston Underwood, possibly an early medieval construction. Human remains were recorded during a watching brief that was carried out over groundworks associated with the laying of new drainage pipes in 2016. Unexcavated in situ human remains and disarticulated bones were recorded, in addition to a brick lined tomb with stone capping. The associated finds and features showed that disturbance within the churchyard has largely been a post medieval activity, primarily in the form of earlier drainage systems. The disarticulated remains were removed from the trench, recorded and placed in the care of the church for reburial, these were reported to be 'highly fragmentary'. In-situ burials, two in total, were left in place and the trenches were relocated to allow this. (1) Neither of the two burials conform to standard burial practice; an infant burial at a depth of 0.8-1m, and an adult oriented north-south as opposed to east-west. (1) 'The presence of human bones in all deposits including the topsoil shows the high level of disturbance that has occurred in the churchyard, with particular emphasis on modern activity to the north of the church. In most cases the remains are impossible to date securely, but it is clear from the levels at which they are found and the associated artefacts that none are likely to be later in date than the mid-19th century, with the later 19th and 20th century artefactual material being closely associated with service and drainage trenches on the site.' (1)