Church of St. John the Baptist, Meshaw, Devon: Archaeological Monitoring and Recording

This report presents the results of archaeological monitoring and recording that was carried out by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) during the replacement of flooring and the installation of services at the Church of St. John the Baptist, Meshaw, Devon. The work was carried out in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation (Boyd 2023) that was agreed with the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) and the Devon County Historic Environment Team (DCHET). The archaeological monitoring and recording revealed four grave cuts, three of which were within the trench outside the church and one of which was underneath the floor within the northern aisle of the church. These features were all undated, though the three graves outside the church are likely to be 19th century in date and the grave inside the church clearly pre-dates the Victorian floors. It is to be expected that human remains will be encountered when working within churches and churchyards. The graves were not excavated further. Any human bone that was encountered was carefully recovered, with much of it having seemingly been disturbed by previous service trenching, and it was subsequently reinterred in a ceremony within the churchyard during the works. The two wall footings are of interest as they are aligned with the church tower. They, too, are undated, though they are presumably associated with an earlier layout which must pre-date the 1691 replacement tower and which suggests that the church was formerly longer.