Site of medieval church and churchyard, near The Ryes (EHER 9307)

The remains of the former parish church of Little Henny, originally constructed in the second half of the 12th century, and rebuilt in the 14th or 15th century. It was destroyed by fire at some point during the late 16th to early 17th century. Worked fragments of marble, possibly of Roman date, were discovered with the medieval finds. Scheduled.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 9307 and 9308. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Church (NR) (Rems of) (NAT). <1> Remains of church (foundations only) 70 yards ESE of the Ryes. Much overgrown, but apparently indicates a small rectangular building. In it is a semi-octagonal bowl, probably a stoup. <2> 1929. Excavation. The church was excavated in 1929, revealing two main construction phases. The first, probably late 12th century, was a rectangular building with extraordinarily thick walls. It may have had a chancel arch. For some reason this church fell into ruin and was rebuilt with a new east wall, shortening the building, and the other walls rebuilt on old bases. This reconstruction may have occurred in the 14th or 15th century. The building was finally destroyed by fire in the late 16th or early 17th century. Buttresses were found to have been added in both periods of the church. A number of inhumations were found east of the church. Finds included pottery, tile, iron artefacts, window glass, a quern, two whetstones and worked stones which were built up in the position which would have been occupied by the altar in the later church, to prevent them being scattered. Finds also included some possible Roman pottery and two fragments of green marble similar to finds from Culver Street, Colchester. They were identified as Roman by P.G. Carver. <3> - <6> In 1950 and 1976 the OS reported that the stone bowl (stoup) had been set up on the west end of the south wall. Site Assessment: After excavation the walls were rendered waterproof as far as possible and the round east end which was not in a condition to be exposed was laid out in flints. <3> The foundations were reported as kept in good condition in 1950. <7> <8> July 1976. Field survey. The lower courses of the flint and stone rubble walls are visible in the garden to the southeast of The Ryes. They measure overall 13.0m. east-west by 6.8m. transversely and average 0.8m high by 1.0m thick. Traces of the excavated chancel are visible at the east end and the stone bowl mentioned by the RCHM has been set up at the west end of the south wall. See photograph of foundations. Published 1:2500 survey revised. <9> January 2001. Scheduled. The monument includes a rectangular church with external dimensions of some 16.5m by 7m, the walls of which survive to a maximum height of 1m. Although apparently a single-celled structure, a projection of masonry at a point some 4.5m from the east end suggests that there was originally a dividing arch here which would have effectively created a small chancel some 2.5m long internally, with a nave some 11.5m long internally. The walls are exceptionally thick, averaging about 1m, and built of mortared flint rubble and quoins of Barnack stone and sandstone. The use of Barnack stone suggests that the original church was built in the second half of the 12th century. In the 14th or 15th century, the church was reconstructed by cutting off its eastern portion with a new wall located just to the north of the chancel arch and the erection of new walls upon the old foundations around the remainder of the building. This created a slightly smaller church without a dividing arch. The final destruction of the church occurred in the late 16th or early 17th century and excavation has shown this to have been a fire. <10> See also: <11> <2>