Evaluation at Little St Mary's Church, Cambridge

In December 2009 Oxford Archaeology East undertook a Test Pit evaluation within the churchyard on the southern side of Little St Mary's Church, Cambridge. The work was carried out for Cowper Griffiths Architects acting on behalf of the Ely Diocese in advance of an extension to the church. The work involved the excavation of two 1m x 1m test pits.
This was a second phase of works following a desk-based assessment carried out by Cambridge University's Archaeological Field Unit in 2009.
The test pits were only required to be investigated to a depth of the proposed foundations, 0.5m. Both test pits revealed the same sequence of topsoil over a compacted lighter gravelly soil. No burials were encountered and very few human bones from disturbed burials were recovered; those that were, were handed back to the church for reburial.