St Faith, Shellingford, Oxfordshire, an Archaeological Evaluation Report

Excavation of five test pits and observations of opening up works in the nave Excavation of five test pits within the churchyard revealed intriguing and enigmatic evidence for the past use of the site. Residual Roman pottery suggests a potential settlement in the locality. Buried soil horizons were excavated in two test pits at depths of approximately 0.8m below modern ground level. Late Saxon pottery was recovered from one of the soil layers, which contained animal bone but not any human remains. That layer was sealed by a 0.7m thick layer of rubble. In other test pits there was an accumulation of 'cemetery soil' containing disarticulated and fragmented human bone. Three possible grave cuts were identified but no confirmed graves or skeletons were found. Construction of the present vestry and drainage trenches is likely to have disturbed the ground around the building. The evaluation has provided useful information on the buried archaeological remains at the site and will further guide the design of the proposed scheme.