Stoke Mandeville: Roman sculptures

 

Stoke Mandeville: Roman sculptures HS2 find astounding, expert says

Publishe

IMAGE SOURCE,HS2/PA MEDIA

Image caption,Two complete sculptures appearing to be a man and a woman were found at a site in Buckinghamshire

Archaeologists have uncovered an "astounding" set of Roman sculptures on the HS2 rail link route.

Two complete sculptures of what appear to be a man and a woman, plus the head of a child, were found at an abandoned medieval church in Buckinghamshire.

The discoveries at the old St Mary's Church in Stoke Mandeville have been sent for specialist analysis.

Dr Rachel Wood, lead archaeologist for HS2 contractor Fusion JV, said they were "really rare finds in the UK".

"To find one stone head or one set of shoulders would be really astonishing, but we have two complete heads and shoulders as well as a third head as well," said Dr Wood.

"They're even more significant to us archaeologically, because they've actually helped change our understanding of the site here before the medieval church was built."

IMAGE SOURCE,HS2/PA MEDIA

Image caption,The discoveries have been sent for specialist analysis

IMAGE SOURCE,HS2/PA MEDIA

Image caption,Archaeologists have been working at the old St Mary's Church site in Stoke Mandeville

A hexagonal glass Roman jug was also uncovered with large pieces still intact, despite being in the ground for what is thought to be more than 1,000 years.

Dr Wood added: "They are so significant and so remarkable that we would certainly hope that they will end up on display for the local community to see."

Archaeologists have been working on the site and about 3,000 bodies have been removed from the church, which dates back to 1080, and will be reburied elsewhere.

Since work began in 2018, the well-preserved walls and structural features of the church have been revealed, along with unusual stone carvings and medieval graffiti including markings believed to be sun dials or witching marks.

It is believed that the location was used as a Roman mausoleum before the Norman church was built.

The village was originally recorded as Stoches i

 The village was originally recorded as Stoches in the Domesday Book of 1086, from the Old English word stoc meaning an outlying farm or hamlet. The suffix Mandeville was first recorded in 1284 when the manor was listed as being in the hands of the powerful Norman de Mandeville family. The former medieval parish church, St Mary the Virgin, on the outskirts of the village was condemned in the mid-20th century and was demolished in January 1966 by the Royal Engineers – a Roman mausoleum was likely present on the site before the church was built. As of October 2021, an archeological exploration is investigating the grounds with its approximately 3,000 burials, and has opened a museum.^[2] The newer red brick parish church of St Mary, consecrated in July 1866 by the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, remains as the only church in the village apart from the Methodist church in Eskdale Road.
Stoke Mandeville was also the location of the Stoke Mandeville Games, which first took place in 1948 thanks to doctor Ludwig Guttmann and are now known as the IWAS World Games. The Games, which were held eight times at Stoke Mandeville, were the inspiration for the first Paralympic Games, also called The Stoke Mandeville Games, which were organised in Rome in 1960. The wheelchair aspects of the 1984 Paralympics were also held in the village. The London 2012 Summer Paralympics mascot, Mandeville, was named after the village due to its legacy with the Games. Stoke Mandeville Stadium was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, enhancing the hospital as a world centre for paraplegics and spinal injuries.
On 13 May 2000, the new Stoke Mandeville Millennium village sign^[3] was unveiled. It stands on a small brick plinth on the green outside the primary school. The sign shows colourful images on both sides of aspects of village life over the centuries.
In 2018 in preparation for the construction of the HS2 high-speed railway, archaeological excavations began on the site of the old St Mary the Virgin church,^[4] As well as excavating the church the process involves moving the remains of those buried in the churchyard.^[4] which dates back to 1080. In September 2021, archaeologists from LP-Archaeology, led by Rachel Wood, announced the discovery of remains on the site of the church. They had unearthed flint walls forming a square structure, enclosed by a circular borderline and burials.