St Mary's Church, Horsefair, Banbury, Oxfordshire

In October and November 2001, and then again in March 2002 Oxford Archaeology (OA) carried out an extended archaeological watching brief at St Mary's Church, Banbury, Oxfordshire (NGR SP 454 406). The work was commissioned by Alan Mcneally of Gray Baynes & Shew Architects on behalf of the Parochial Church Council of St Mary's. The watching brief monitored the excavation of a new service trench around and into the church to supply drainage for new toilet facilities.

The watching brief revealed surviving fragments of the medieval church comprising the remains of three buttresses. The substantial foundations of the present building were observed together with an imposing undercroft structure beneath the west entrance to the building. A family vault from the early Victorian period was identified at the south west corner of the church. Dis-articulated human remains were re-interred in the graveyard.