An archaeological excavation of test-holes at St Barnabas† Church, Alphamstone, Essex: March and May 2007

Three test-holes dug by CAT at the northern side of the nave encountered features and layers, some pre-dating the construction of the nave. Of principal interest was an east-west aligned inhumation burial, of probable Anglo-Saxon or Norman date. A Roman layer or feature fill in one of the test-holes may be associated with the nearby villa. The nave foundation was seen to extend to between 400 and 500mm below ground-level and to be of unmortared stone and earth construction.