St Bartholomew's Church, Wilmslow, Cheshire East. Archaeological Watching Brief.

The principal element of the re-ordering scheme required the removal of existing stone and timber surfacing in the nave to enable the installation of a new limecrete floor with under-floor heating. The existing timber floor is suspended over a void that is c 320mm deep, and overlies an earthen deposit that derived from the reuse of the church interior for burials since at least the early sixteenth century. It was recognised during the design stage of the scheme that this deposit had some potential to contain disarticulated human bones and other remains of archaeological interest. In addition, the scheme of works required several ledger stones in the nave aisle to be relocated, although it was uncertain whether these stones had been laid onto solid ground, or
whether they overlay vaults, intact burials, or other sensitive deposits.
In order to secure archaeological interests, the Chester Diocesan Advisory Committee requested that an appropriate scheme of investigation accompanied the reordering
works in order to mitigate any archaeological impact of the re-ordering scheme. The archaeological works were intended to monitor the removal of the Victorian timber
floor and pews, as well as the remnants of an earlier stone flag floor, in order to determine the presence and nature of any earth-cut graves or crypts in the church, together with any other additional structures or features which may have been obscured by the mid- to late nineteenth-century modifications.