Rycote Chapel- Coffins in the Crypt, Thame, Oxfordshire

In March 2004, Oxford Archaeology (OA) carried out an archaeological recording action in the crypt of Rycote Chapel, Rycote Park, near Thame, Oxfordshire. The work was commissioned by the present owner, Bernard Taylor, on behalf of the Rycote Buildings Charitable Foundation. The action included the recording of 24 coffins of the Bertie Family, the Earls of Abingdon and Barons Norreys of Rycote. The coffins dated from 1649 to 1884, and were remarkable for their ornate upholstery and coffin fittings. One anthropoid lead coffin of the infant brother of the first Earl (1649) was very unusual. The identities of members of the family interred within each coffin were known in all but four cases. From incomplete inscriptions and historical records, three out of these four were tentatively identified, leaving only one unknown. The burials included six generations of the Bertie family, the last interment being Montague the 6th Earl in 1884.