Saxon barrow, church and cemeteries in the old churchyard at Taplow Court

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Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014781
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-1933

Climbing to the top of the ancient burial mound — Uploaded by Meg Gain This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014781
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-1933
Date of most recent amendment:: 18-Jun-1996

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Buckinghamshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Taplow
National Grid Reference:: SU 90628 82169

Reasons for Designation

A hlaew is a burial monument of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and comprising a hemispherical mound of earth and redeposited bedrock constructed over a primary burial or burials. These were usually inhumations, buried in a grave cut into the subsoil beneath the mound, but cremations placed on the old ground surface beneath the mound have also been found. Hlaews may occur in pairs or in small groups; a few have accompanying flat graves. Constructed during the pagan Saxon and Viking periods for individuals of high rank, they served as visible and ostentatious markers of their social position. Some were associated with territorial claims and appear to have been specifically located to mark boundaries. They often contain objects which give information on the range of technological skill and trading contacts of the period. Only between 50 and 60 hlaews have been positively identified in England. As a rare monument class all positively identified examples are considered worthy of preservation.

The barrow, or hlaew, at Taplow has been dated to the seventh century AD and is an exceptional example, both in the wealth of finds from the site and the excellent state of preservation of the surviving remains. The barrow, despite being partly excavated, survives almost in its original form and will contain further important archaeological remains not found or considered important by the original excavators, including environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was constructed which can now be determined with modern techniques.

The buried remains of the adjacent Anglo-Saxon church are also quite exceptional in their importance, as buildings of this type are very rare. The foundations of this structure evidently survive well, retaining detailed information about the date and appearance of the church which will be valuable for the wider study of the development of church building in England. Furthermore, the church's close proximity to the barrow provides a fascinating link between the pagan and Christian use of the site, reflecting the site's continued religious significance, and illuminating the transition from paganism to Christianity. Whether or not the porticus of the early church provided for the burial of the descendants of the occupant of the barrow, they demonstrate ostentatious burial in a similar vein to the earlier monument. The juxtaposition of these two symbols of authority would not have been highly significant at the time.

Evidence for continuity in the use of the site and the changes brought about by the establishment of Christianity will also be evident in the secondary burials associated with the barrow and church. The pagan Anglo-Saxon burials will be accompanied by a range of datable artefacts, pottery, jewellery, weapons and domestic items providing information concerning social structure and ideology. The Christian inhumations will be largely devoid of grave goods (in itself an indication of changed beliefs) but, together with the earlier burials are highly valuable for the study of aspects such as life expectancy, disease and nutrition throughout the currency of the graveyard.

Details

The monument includes a large Saxon burial mound, the buried remains of an early Anglo-Saxon and later medieval church, and part of the pagan and Christian cemeteries throught to have surrounded these features within the old churchyard immediately to the south west of Taplow Court.

The site lies at the southern end of a small spur commanding extensive views to the west over the River Thames, Maidenhead and the Berkshire countryside. The barrow mound stands towards the western side of the now disused churchyard, and measures c.21m in diameter and 4m high. The mound is partly reconstituted and displays some modification as a garden feature; the top has been levelled and the sides scarped to provide a spiral pathway to the summit. There are no surface indications of a surrounding ditch and as a geophysical survey in the late 1980s failed to locate such a feature, it would appear that the material for the construction was either quarried elsewhere or scraped up from its surroundings. The barrow was partly excavated by Rutland, Stevens and Money in 1883 and proved to be the burial mound or hlaew of an early seventh century Saxon chief; though not necessarily the individual known as `Taeppa' whose name became associated with the mound sometime prior to Domesday and is still preserved in the place name of Taplow (Taeppa's hlaew). Traces of the body were found within an oak-lined burial chamber sunk some 2m below the base of the mound, clad in gold embroidered robes and accompanied by an astounding collection of grave goods. These included a sword, three shields and three spears, three iron bound and bronze clad buckets, four glass beakers and four drinking horns, a large bronze standing bowl (possibly from Egypt), a highly decorated gold belt buckle inlaid with garnets and a pair of gilt bronze clasps. This lavishly equipped burial was the richest find of the period in England until the discovery of the Sutton Hoo treasure in 1939, and it remains one of the finest known examples of its class.

The small rectangular churchyard measures approximately 80m by 35m and formerly served as the curtilage of St Nicholas' Church, a small parochial church which stood in the north eastern corner adjacent to the south wall of Taplow Court, some 15m to the north west of the barrow. The church fell into a state of disrepair in the early 19th century, was partly demolished in 1828, and finally levelled during a period of major refurbishment at Taplow Court itself in 1852. Illustrations made shortly before the church's demise show a long narrow nave with a timber bell cote over the western gable, a small stone built porch attached to the western end of the north wall, and a large projecting structure in the north, (the side chapel added by the Hampson family in 1633 and a vestry added in 1799). This medieval church superseded a still earlier structure on the same site for which two recent surveys have now provided archaeological evidence to demonstrate an Anglo-Saxon date. In the late 1980s a team from the Sutton Hoo Research Project undertook a geophysical survey of the site which recorded the buried remains of the church. This structure appeared with greater detail in the form of parchmarks which were surveyed by English Heritage archaeologists in the summer of 1995. The parchmarks showed the foundations of a short, rectangular nave some 15.5m long by 7.5m wide with walls between 1.5m and 1.8m thick. There was no structural division for a chancel although the inside face of the eastern end wall was curved to form an apse. Placed centrally outside the southern wall was a rectangular projection (7m by 3.5m) with walls of similar thickness, and traces of a matching projection were discovered in a corresponding position to the north; both are believed to be porticus, that is small side chambers devoted primarily to saintly or high status burials. This small, but massively built church with attached porticus is characteristic of Anglo-Saxon construction; and the few English parallels for this layout indicate that it belongs to the eighth or ninth centuries AD. Later and less substantial foundations related to the expanded medieval and post-medieval church were also visible as parchmarks, from which it is clear that the later building utilised part of the foundations, if not part of the superstructure, of the Anglo-Saxon church.

The existence of the barrow and the early church will have encouraged other burials in the near vicinity. Barrows of this period are typically surrounded by satellite graves, (both inhumation and cremations). The early church will inevitably have founded a cemetery, in effect continuing the burial tradition on the site. The full extent of these surrounding, and presumably overlapping cemeteries remains unknown, although it can be said with certainty to have extended throughout the area of the later graveyard. The later graveyard itself is an integral part of the history of the site. It includes the remains of a pre-industrial population drawn from a relatively small community over many centuries, in unbroken continuity from the early medieval period. The entire area of the graveyard is therefore included in the scheduling, together with the remaining post-medieval gravestones, chest tombs and other memorials which provide further evidence for the development of the burial ground. The churchyard walls, which are 19th century in date, are not included in the scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 19050
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Gelling, M, The Place-Names of Berkshire, (1976)
Lysons, Reverend D, Lysons, S, Magna Britannia, (1813), 647
Morris, R, Churches in the Landscape, (1989), 460-1
Page, F , The Victoria History of the County of Buckinghamshire, (1910), 241
Page, F , The Victoria History of the County of Buckinghamshire, (1910), 199-203
Welch, M, Anglo-Saxon England, (1992), 92-6
'Illustrated London News' in Relicts of a Viking's Tomb, (1883), 507-9
'Illustrated London News' in Viking's Tomb recently discovered at Taplow Court, (1883), 276-8
Stevens, J, 'Journ. Brit. Archeol. Assoc.' in Remains found in an Anglo-Saxon Tumulus at Taplow, , Vol. 40, (1884), 61-71
Other
Copp, A. & Royale, C, Surveys conducted at Taplow Court, 1987, unpublished report (Bucks SMR)
Fell, D. Daniel, C. & Rimmer, P., Resistivity Survey at Taplow Court, 1987, Unpublished report (illustrated)
Oil on paper (Soc of Antiqs, London), St. Nicholas' Church, Taplow (Red Book), (1825)
Pencil sketch (BRO D/GR/14/84/1), Rutland, J, The Ruins of St. Nicholas', Taplow, from the south west, (1849)
photo in Taplow Church, Rutland, J (after Vansittart Neale), Later copy of drawing of St. Nicholas' Church c.1815, (1847)
reference to finds from Bapsey Pond, 2929,
Scrimgeour, G E and Farley, M, Taplow and its setting, 1987, unpublished report. Bucks SMR
Stocker, D & Went, D, Evidence for a pre-Viking Church adjacent to the Taplow Barrow, 1996, forthcoming article
Unpublished archive (Bucks SMR), Baker, G T and Adlam, R P, Opening the Taplow Vault, (1970)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.