Monument record 0731400000 - 40 Church Lane, West Wycombe

In July 2010, part of a human skull and other fragments of human bone were discovered by buildiers digging a trench against the north wall of 40 Church Lane. Human bones had been unearthed on previous occasions in the lane, but the age and circumstances of the burials was entirely unknown. To investigate further, the National Trust, the owners of the property, commisioned an archaeological excavationof the area on the north side of the cottage. This uncovered the remains of four individuals, one of which has been radiocarbon dated to the mid 3rd to early 5th centuries AD, from a row of graves cut into the chalk bedrock. The bone fragments discovered by the builders came from a late medieval/early post medieval ditch that ran parallel to Church Lane and passed under the front wall of the cottage; the bones, of at least two individuals, probably came from other Roman graves disturbed by the cutting of the ditch. Two pits dating to the late 15th/early16th century were encountered in the foundation trench for a new garden wall adjacent to Church Lane. The archaeology was sealed by a layer of subsoil and dark garden soil containing 18th and 19th century pottery and glass, and a part of a possible medieval rowel-spur (B1).