Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 880: summary

Archaeological test-pits at St Michael the Archangel, Brantham, Suffolk, CO11 1PZ: September 2015
by Laura Pooley (with contributions from -)

Date report completed: June 2016
Location: the Church of St Michael the Archangel, Brantham, Suffolk, CO11 1PZ
Map reference(s): TM 112 341 (c)
File size: 2,527 kb
Project type: Archaeological test-pits
Significance of the results: negative
Keywords: parish church

Summary. An archaeological test-pit evaluation was carried out in advance of the construction of an equal-access WC and a kitchen in the choir vestry of the Church of St Michael the Archangel, Brantham, Suffolk. The church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, with the current choir vestry dating from the 1950s. The vestry is located on the site of a late 16th- or early 17th-century porch which was demolished by the 1930s. No archaeological features or finds were recorded within the test- pits and no trace of the earlier porch was seen. A small trench dug alongside the north wall of the vestry did reveal a threshold stone which had been bricked over and was possibly contemporary with the porch. It has previously been speculated that the bricks seen above the threshold stone were from the porch and had been used in the wall after the porch was demolished.