Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 2048: summary

Archaeological evaluation at St Mary’s Church, Rivenhall, Essex, CM8 3PQ: April 2024
by Megan Beale & Dr Elliott Hicks

Date report completed: May 2024
Location: St Mary’s Church, Rivenhall, Essex, CM8 3PQ
Map reference(s): TL 82908 17780 (centre)
File size: 7,622 kb
Project type: evaluation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. An archaeological evaluation (three trial-trenches) was carried out at St Mary’s Church, Rivenhall in advance of re-opening an area of the churchyard for new burials.

A Scheduled Monument (NHLE 1013831) to the north of the church includes a Roman villa, as well as the remains of an Anglo-Saxon church and cemetery, and church itself has its origins in the medieval period. Some 24 burials – mostly of children and infants and likely dating to the medieval or post-medieval period – were recorded during the evaluation and left in situ.