Site Event/Activity record ECH6532 - Saint Bartholomew's Church, Great Barrow, Chester: Building Survey and Watching Brief

The University of Manchester Archaeological Unit (UMAU) undertook a programme of archaeological works in advance of the construction of a creche and toilets. These works included a historic building survey, watching brief and excavation. The building survey recorded the fabric of the north-western comer of the nave of the church using rectified photography and also included a general visual inspection of the church, while the watching brief noted further details which were also recorded photographically. This work confirmed the four main phases suggested by the Listed Building Description, but also provided additional information. The chancel is firmly dated to 1671 and its seems likely that the walls of the north aisle also substantially belong to that period. However, the base of the aisle walls contains earlier, possibly medieval fabric, which may also continue in the north-west comer of the nave. The tower was found to be largely a rebuild of 1744, not a new build as suggested by the Listed Building Description. During the watching brief human remains were also uncovered. This unsuspected discovery led to the exhumation of fourteen individuals. The burials date to the latter part of the 19th century, from c 1850 to 1883, and have provided a valuable insight into rural Cheshire during the later post-medieval period. Eight adults were recovered, with four being male and four female. The remaining six ranged from newborn to seventeen years old. However, their sexes at this age are undeterminable due to undeveloped characteristics in the bone structure. The material culture associated with the graves suggests that these people were not from the poorest families as the coffins were decorated, but their fairly basic construction would imply that they were not from the richest either. The skeletal remains also gave good insight into the social status of the group. The high ante-mortem tooth loss and decay are indicative of a high sugar diet and lack of dental hygiene. There were no signs of dental restoration which exemplifies the point that the group were not from the wealthier households, and the adults, in particular the older males, showed signs of joint disease, healed breaks and other skeletal damage suggesting that they undertook some form of manual labour.