Parish Copy of a report written by Mark Redknap on the excavation carried out under the direction of the Passmore Edwards Museum in 1984


LITTLE ILFORD ST. MARY THE VIRGIN 1984 .



The Passmore Edwards Museum, has, since its foundation, undertaken excavation
and recording in the Metropolitan and south-west part of Essex, as is reflected
in its early Collections. Since 1973, the Museum has received an annual grant from
the D.o.E., now H.B.M.C. for England, for rescue work in this area, and since
1983, from the G.L.C. as part of the Greater London Archaeological Service,
archaeological work is undertaken within the five boroughs east of the River Lea
by the Museum's Archaeology and Local History Section under
Miss P.M. Wilkinson

INTRODUCTION.
The parish of Little Ilford, lies to the west of the river Roding some 6 miles
east of the City, on the other side of the river from Great Ilford, and half a mile
south of the main road from London to Romford. The land lies approximately
8 metres above sea-level, dropping slightly towards the river. Little Ilford
church lies on natural orange brickearth above dense bands of sand and gravel.

'Ilford' applied originally to the village, but during the 13th century it ~began to
be called 'Little Ilford' to distinguish from the growing settlement of Great Ilford
east of the river that also lay partly within the Forest of Essex. It seems to have
developed little between the 11th and 19th centuries. In 1086 the recorded population
was 10. By 1650, the parish contained only 6 or 7 families south of the main road
(with 4 to the north), and by 1801 there were only 15.

The church of St. Mary the Virgin, while attracting interest in its
surviving brasses.,which have been set into the north wall of the nave, has
escaped the attention of Victorian renovators and not received any detailed
archaeological study. Previous reports have been based on the visible
architectural details, including three lancet windows and the two doors in the west
of the nave that have been dated to the 12th century.

During 1984 the Passmore Edwards Museum conducted work on numerous
sites, including Ilford (Pleistocene bones: London Borough of Redbridge); West Ham
London Bough of Newham); Barking (London Borough of Barking and Dagenham) and
Romford London Borough of Havering). This report describes the excavation
conducted by the Museum between May-June and August-September 1984
in advance of floor replacement in the church of St Mary the Virgin
in Little Ilford (Borough of Newham: TQ 4290 8528).

EXCAVATION RESULTS
These are described chronologically.
Period 1.
One east-west burial had been cut by post-holes 1 and 2 of the subsequent
church and suggest burial taking place on this site before the erection of the
period 2 timber structure.
Period 2. (late Saxon/Saxo-Norman).
Large post-holes, some 1 metre in diameter, were uncovered inside the south
wall of the nave, cutting into the firm natural gravels (figure 2). Probable locations
for similar post settings to the south of the north wall of the
nave have been removed by post-medieval features. Several valuable observations
can be made based on the available evidence.
1) The slots and post-holes represent a late Saxon or post-Conquest timber post-built structure that preceded the earliest stone nave.
2)The fills of the post-holes are associated with late 11th- early 12th century early medieval sand and shaely ware cooking pot sherds (C14 date pending).
3) Internal wall lines can be drawn, assuming opposed positions for
post-holes 4 and 6. that present an alignment that varies by 5 degrees to that
of the stone nave.
4)This alignment respects that of three early pre-stone nave inhumations, with which may be contemporary.
5) The mid-point of the misalignment of post-hole 1 conveniently fits onto an arc passing through the estimated mid-points for the north and south walls, suggesting an apsidal-ended single celled timber church. Recently the Essex group of stone apsidal ended churches of 11th century plan have been described as the work of a very localised school of builders (Turner 1934,43-63). The proposed Little Ilford dimensions are similar to this group, and the presence of a timber prototype to the stone-built group may be considered a possibility.

3.
During the 12th century a stone church was constructed on the site of the
timber building, with walls of chalk, flint and limestone above foundation
trenches of rammed gravel. This gravel contained Roman material that
may have been unconsciously derived from a Roman site of (unknown but
possibly local ) disturbed by the quarrying for gravel. Roman tile was
incorporated into the standing wall structure.

The original plan of rectangular nave with small square chancel was never
completed: although the foundations for the chancel were prepared a final
decision was made either to construct a larger (wider)chancel as suggested by
wider wall footings on the outer eastern side of the east wall of the nave
(figure 2), or not to build a chancel at all. The last possibility exists if the wider footings become buttress footings: the east wall extended without interruption from north and south sides of the nave.

The date of construction is suggested by the sandstone fragment of clustered
column with cable relief, paralleled by work on the west front of Iffley church
near Oxford, dated c. 1150.

Medieval burial within the nave included one east facing grave (figure 3, g8)
with chalice above the left shoulder. The practice of interring chalices, often
without patens, with priests, is well known. and a similar occurrence has
recently been published from Little Oakley. Essex (Corbishley 1984,26).
Other medieval finds from the nave include thirteenth century grisaille
glass with red-painted decoration. In 1259 William de la Poie. patron of the
church, granted the advowson and one carucate of land in Ilford to
Stratford Langthorne Abbey, who held it until 1538.

Later
The chancel appears to have been rebuilt it in the early 17th century A terminus
ante quem is provided by the wall memorial to William,Waldegrave (1610) on the north wall of the chancel (figure 2, no.12), references in 1638 to the placing of the communion table in the centre of the chancel with benches
ail around, by one of the puritan rectors Moore (160'-15) or Cowdray (1639-46),
and the discovery of memorial slabs set in the chancel floor to the Commonwealth
rector. Henry Osbaston (figure 7) buried facing the congregation, with a stone
commemorating his son Fuller (d.1660). at his feet.

The Osbaston stones lie immediately beneath the modern timber floor as part of
a tiled central aisle and chancel area (figure 6) remarkable for the discovery not
only of the original settings in the nave for the brass memorial to Anne Hyde (d. 1630: figure 2, no.s 7 and 8), but also of a schoolboy indent similar to the surviving Thomas Heron brass, though smaller, which in the words of the antiquarian Smart Lethieullier, ‘either avarice, or an over-zealous aversion to some words on the inscription, has robbed'

The Lethieullier Chapel.
In about 1724 John Lethieullier, who had acquired Aldersbrook Manor in 1693,
obtained a faculty to erect the family vault, with chapel above at the church.
Work may not have started until 1737, after his death, possibly under
his son Smart's direction. Renovation of the vault entrance, via steps descending from
the west end of the nave, presented an opportunity to carry out thorough
recording of the vault and its contents, thereby performing what Smart had
advocated 200 years ago: ‘if, by any means, the true owners of such forgotten
monuments could be revived, and the original intent of preserving their memory
restored, it were at least an entertaining, not to say a meritorious labour'.

Smart, who had been born at Aldersbrook in 1701 (and baptised in the church), was a great collector of fossils and antiquities, and published in the early volumes of Archaeologia and the Philosophical Transactions. His numerous unpublished notes include extremely valuable manuscript accounts of Barking and the Roman remains at Wanstead Park (1715 and 1745).

Burial Practice.
During the excavation 1:1 tracings of all coffins, most of which were extremely well
preserved, were made. These will be used to produce on paper reconstructions
to illustrate fitting arrangements and methods of packing. Many had been constructed
of elm, and once the insides had been sealed with pitch or similar material, the
bodies had been packed in aromatic sawdust. The 17th and 18th century fittings, carpentry and construction usefully illustrate the art of the plumbers and upholsterers of the period. The coffin belonging to Francis Osbaston (d. 1678),
who lies with his sons Francis and Henry on the north side of the chancel (figure 3),
is an early example of decorative skull and crossbones design executed in
dome-headed bronze studs. One interesting example was found of an 18th century
north-south burial (John Barlow, d. 1769; figure 3).

Conclusions.
The discovery of a timber post-built late Saxon or Saxo-Norman church, possibly
with an apsidal end, and subsequent limited but colourful development of the
church reflects the population size and pastoral demands of the parish.
Evidence was found for burial on the site before the existence of church buildings,
and the finds which include Roman material and a possible Saxon sherd prompt
future research.




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