Although quite a few sherds of medieval pottery were found during our initial investigations at the vicarage garden, they were not found in context. This means that they could have just been brought in from elsewhere and dumped on the garden. It was therefore decided to dig another test pit within the wooded area closer to the graveyard wall and the pavement which may have been less disturbed.
Closer inspection of old maps showed that there were two structures which appear to have been demolished when the new road was cut and fortuitously, local historian John Stretton found additional information relating to one of them. Some possible evidence was found in two of our initial test pits by way of a clay surface and a few fragments of floor tile but a document discovered by John relates to a conveyance made in 1663 confirming a tithe barn and a yard in Albrighton. On the same visit to the archive, an estate map of 1789 shows the area where the new road was cut was called ‘the yard’.
Our test pit within the wooded area was exceptionally hard to dig due to a mass of tree roots but once again a couple of pieces of medieval sandyware pottery (12th-13th C) were found but mixed with post medieval and 19th century material. This was disappointing but large amounts of floor tile and an internal post hole came to light which could indicate the floor of a large barn type structure possibly the tithe barn.
The photo shows the squared post hole along with a couple of pieces of floor tile sitting on some mortar. More investigations are planned adjacent to the church very shortly.