Site Event/Activity record ECH4141 - St Mary's and all Saints Church, Gt. Budworth

Visit to observe opening of vault in North Transept/ Lady Chapel.The Opening of the Lady Chapel Vault, St Mary and All Saints, Great Budworth On 19th October 2005 Mark Leah visited Great Budworth church to observe the opening of the vault in the lady chapel, which the parish wished to inspect in connection with some memorials whose whereabouts have been obscure since their last siting in the 1960s. The lady chapel, although restored. is of 14th century origin and forms the north transept of the church. The Dutton and Leicester families held burial rights in the chapel and it is known that the 17'h-century historian, Sir Peter Leicester, was buried there. The opening of the vault would provide an opportunity to establish the extent of the structure, make a basic record of its construction, and make some outline notes on the burials present. The vault appears to be have been constructed in a single phase and to occupy the whole of the footprint of the chapel. Consequently, the construction will have entirely removed any earlier archaeological deposits. The bricks used in the vault's construction suggest that it is no earlier than early 19th century or late 18th century in date. There is no sign of any earlier vault having been incorporated in the present structure and it is clear that any earlier burials will have been disturbed during its construction. The fate of these burials is unknown; they may have been simply ignored or they may have be re-interred in the new construction. The vault consists of two halves divided by an east-to-west brick wall (presumably to divide the two family areas) and has a central area or passage (running north to south) with vaulted brick chambers to the side. These contain shelves and are occupied by numerous lead coffins with decayed wooden outer caskets. Most of the coffins were still intact but some of those on the lower shelves had collapsed completely. Many of the coffins have name plates but needed cleaning to read clearly. A number of funeral wreaths survived in a good state of preservation. In addition the original floor slabs to the vaults had been placed on the earth surface of the vault when the floor of the chapel was re-laid (apparently in the 1960s). A number of memorials are fixed to the walls of the vault's north and south chambers, including a tablet on the north wall of the north chamber which contains an extensive Latin text. The floor of the south chamber shows some evidence of subsidence. This is not structurally significant but might be evidence of the re-burial of remains disturbed during construction of the vault or, perhaps, of burials which were judged offensive during the periodic re-opening to take new burials.