Monument record IPS 661 - Burials at St Mary at the Quay, Ipswich.

2012: An archaeological evaluation was conducted for Suffolk Mind ahead of a proposal to redevelop the redundant church of St Mary at the Quay, Key Street, Ipswich, Suffolk including the construction of a new extension to the east end of the church. A trench measuring 3m by 2m was excavated through the archaeological sequence to test the archaeological remains and density of burials present at the site. A total of eleven articulated burials were located within the trench which range in date from Middle Saxon to late post-medieval. Near the present street frontage a metalled deposit may represent an earlier surface of what is now Key Street. A clay and chalk deposit also located near the street frontage may represent a floor associated with a medieval building. Dumped midden deposits of Middle Saxon date were located near the base of the trench probably in a marsh environment which may have been periodically inundated with water from the tidal estuary. The deposits were probably laid down as part of an attempt at land reclamation close to the Saxon foreshore. An unconventionally aligned and positioned skeleton was found within the midden deposits. It was unclear as to whether the skeleton was associated with an earlier graveyard or whether the body was dumped or possibly washed up on the foreshore. A possible Late Glacial-Early Holocene soil was recorded sealing the natural sand (S1).

2015: Excavation of the development footprint within the southern graveyard revealed a sequence of activity beginning in the Anglo-Saxon period with dumped refuse and midden deposits. These deposits probably represent land reclamation of a marshy environment close to the Anglo-Saxon foreshore, with evidence these deposits were inundated periodically, probably by the nearby tidal estuary of the River Orwell. An unconventionally aligned and positioned skeleton of probable Middle Saxon date was present within these midden deposits. It was unclear whether the individual was dumped or buried in a shallow pit.
The midden material was overlain by a burial ground associated with the use and lifespan of St Mary at Quay church, the core of which predominantly dates to the 15–16th-century. During the course of the archaeological excavation one hundred and twenty-two articulated burials were excavated, recorded and lifted for reburial elsewhere in the church, along with the disarticulated remains of a further c. 184 individuals from 19th-century charnel pits. A number of similarly dated burial vaults in the cemetery were also recorded.
Flint and mortar wall foundations revealed during the internal works might represent elements of an earlier, pre-15–16th-century church on the site.
The site represents a complex, long-lived churchyard with a significant assemblage of the later medieval and post-medieval population of Ipswich and the project represents one of few examples to date of controlled archaeological recovery of such remains within the town. The site also provides insight into the approaches to death and burial and reatment of human remains during previous 19th-century renovation works (S2 S3).