Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of St Swithins Churchyard, Holmesfield, Derbyshire

In May 2004, ARCUS were commissioned by Smith and Roper to undertake a desk- based assessment on land at St Swithins churchyard, Holmesfield (SK 3208 7771). The assessment was required in relation to a feasibility report for the construction of a church hall at the site. The desk-based assessment comprised a site visit, documentary and cartographic research. The proposal area currently consists of a graveyard surrounding St Swithins church. The church was originally founded in the medieval period, the first stone chapel possibly constructed in the tenth century. An earlier timber building may have existed on the spot. The medieval chapel was demolished in 1825, due to its poor condition. The tower and nave of the current church were constructed in 1826, with additions in 1895 and 1961. The church was part of Dronfield parish, and no burials were recorded at the site until 1727. The graveyard was expanded to the north in the mia- twentieth century. A linear feature is visible immediately to the north of the proposed development area. This earthen bank is on the line of the old boundary marking the northern extent of the original churchyard. Several small mounds closer to the church may represent features related to the medieval or earlier chapels, although they could be associated with later disturbance of the churchyard. There are many burials recorded within the proposal area, of mid-nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century date. Current English Heritage working party guidelines recommend that the exhumation of burials more than 100 years old from Christian graveyards should be monitored or excavated by archaeologists.