Monument record HLM 004 - "The Wilderness" adjoining Rectory garden (Un)

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Summary

Cemetery.

Location

Grid reference Centred TM 1910 5767 (51m by 50m) Centred on
Map sheet TM15NE
Civil Parish HELMINGHAM, MID SUFFOLK, SUFFOLK

Map

Type and Period (3)

Full Description

Cemetery. Inhumations, said to be several hundred, 24 (one dismembered) overlapping, in one trench alone and many trenches excavated. Heads W, shallow, circa 18 inches, no grave goods, except animal `food' bones, but "Rom"(?) sherds, fragments of querns, a bronze brooch, and a pair of tweezers (S6), noted in `the made earth, above the bodies'. `Some skeletons (all male?) showed signs of previous mutilation, such as a severed head etc' (S6). The pottery is described in (S4) as `black funereal pottery,... and pieces of a thick rude black pottery unknown to me'. No mention is made of a brooch or tweezers in (S4). Uncovered and reburied by Rev Cardew. Details in (S4). Photographs by Mr Piper, Ipswich, on record (some in Parish file). Subsequent research has proved that the cemetery is not confined to the copse called the Wilderness, but extends under the Rectory stable coachhouse and garden to the east, along a portion of the churchyard to the south, and across the moat to the north (S1)(S3)(S5).
For other cemeteries, see HLM 005 & Misc (CRNs 11162 & 11163). Oyster shells were found in considerable abundance (S2).
Adjoins large scatter(?) HLM 005.
August 2000: Monitoring (for garage) carried out - negative results (S7).
See also Rom.
Note ms of Rev Cardew's excavations in Ipswich Museum & Tollemache library.

Sources/Archives (11)

  • <S1> (No record type): London Illustrated News, 2 July 1864.
  • <R1> (No record type): Cardew G, Ms RB cemetery site, March 1864, D9/3 - Helmingham Hall Archives (Lord Tollemache) (Anothe.
  • <M1> Unpublished document: Suffolk Archaeological Service. Parish Files. Parish file: (S1), 8 photographs, (S2)(S3)(S4).
  • <R2> (No record type): London, Illustrated News, 31 March 1866.
  • <S2> (No record type): Archaeologia, 42, 1869, 424 (copy in parish file).
  • <R3> (No record type): JBAA, 20, 339.
  • <S3> (No record type): Ipswich Journal, 26 March 1864.
  • <S4> (No record type): Cardew Rev G, `On the discovery of human skeletons and ancient remains at Helmingham, Suffolk', JBAA.
  • <S5> Index: OS. OS Card. OS, card TM15NE8.
  • <S6> Bibliographic reference: 1911. Victoria County History, Suffolk (VCH). 308.
  • <S7> Unpublished document: Suffolk County Council Archaeologcial Service. Various. SAU, Topham-Smith C, SCCAS Monitoring Report 2000/65, Sep 2000.

Finds (2)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Mar 6 2023 11:00AM

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