In October 2005 a survey was carried out within the Old Churchyard of St Nicolas Church (Scheduled Ancient Monument 19050),. This was carried out by the Marlow Archaeological Society as a part of a series of geophysical surveys in the grounds of Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire (Figures 1-3) . The surveys were undertaken both in an attempt to trace the lines of the prehistoric defences found by Oxford Archaeology during excavation in 1999 and 2000 (Allen and Lamdin-Whymark 2000; OA 2005), and to pursue investigation of the Saxon and earlier remains centred around the Taplow Mound being carried out by local archaeologists.

A method statement for the geophysical surveys was prepared (Allen and Kupfermann 2005) and a licence was granted by English Heritage in October 2005 to carry out a geophysical survey within the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

This report provides the results of the geophysical survey carried out within the Scheduled Ancient Monument defined by the boundaries of the old churchyard. The geophysical surveys carried out to the north and south of the graveyard appear on a separate report (Kupfermann 2006, forthcoming).

The Taplow Court Estate (SU906823) is located on an elevated position located on a chalk spur overlooking the River Thames to the west and is bounded by the ClivedenEstate to the North. The Old Churchyard of St Nicolas is situated adjacent to the southern front of the Taplow Court mansion (Figure 2).

The aims of the survey were:

The base plan for the survey which included the location of all surviving grave gravestones was undertaken using a survey-grade GPS. Four 20m x 20m grids (R1-4) were laid out over the part of the churchyard to the east of the barrow.

A resistivity survey was carried out using a TR Systems Resistance Meter with an automatic data logger, initially at 1m intervals. This was complemented by a smaller more detailed survey on a grid of 20m x 20m at intervals of 0.5m. This grid was positioned over an area which covered a large portion of the church identified from the 1m interval survey. In some areas within the grids gravestones were encountered and a nul reading was taken.

The four 20m x 20m grid squares were merged into one grid and the data plotted onto the surveyed base map using Autocad (various versions) and ‘Surfer 7 & 8’ image software.

(Numbers relate to the aims of the survey)

The geophysical survey confirms the location of the demolished church of St Nicolas, Taplow. (Figure 4) The plan of the structure consists of a nave and an aisle to the north adjacent to the southern wall of Taplow Court. There is evidence also for a possible entrance porch occupying a roughly central position opposite to the northern aisle.

The plan of the church also conforms to the only known sketch of the church (Figure 5) (drawn in the early 1820’s), which shows a church with architectural decoration dating to the Early English period. There is an absence of Romanesque style features such as round-headed windows or doorways that would support a late Saxon date. Also a description of the interior of the church by George Lipscombe of 1847 describes the chancel of the church being decorated in a ‘florid Gothic’ fashion (Lipscombe 1847).

The northern aisle was added to the church in the 1630s by the Hampson family and became the manorial family pew with a burial vault below. This vault became the place of burial for the Lords of the Manor of Taplow and their families - the last of whom was interred in 1972. Adjacent to the western wall of the northern aisle are two high anomalies which run at 90%to each other – these represent a stairway and corridor to the vault which was constructed in 1853 as the vault was no longer accessible when the church was demolished (Rutland 1853)

The geophysical evidence from this survey suggests that the plan of the church dates from the medieval period. No evidence for a pair of opposed porticus or an apsidal end to the church recorded in the parch mark survey by English Heritage in 1995, was found (Stocker and Went 1995) .

No evidence to support a Saxon date for the church of St Nicolas can be found through the examination of the surviving documents and drawings of St Nicolas Church. It is possible that the church dates to the end of the 12^th century, when in AD 1197 the Manor of Taplow became the property of Merton Priory, and a monastic grange was established.

No evidence for the ring ditch adjacent to the west church observed in an earlier resistivity was found.

Evidence for the ditch observed by Rutland during the demolition of the church was confirmed by the possibility of a ditch running south-westwards from the south-west corner of the churchyard which turned westward running under the eastern end of the church. This perhaps indicates that the ditch does not go any further south at this point.

Elias Kupfermann – February 2006

Allen, T, G, and Lamdin-Whymark, H, 2000 The Rediscovery of Taplow Hillfort, South Midlands Archaeology 30, 22-28

Allen. T.G and Kupfermann, E, 2005, Geophysical Surveys at Taplow Court – Method Statement, Oxford Archaeology

Kupfermann, E, 2006 (Forthcoming) Geophysical Surveys at the Iron Age Hill Fort at Taplow Court, Taplow, Buckinghamshire.

Lipscombe, G , 1847 – History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Buckingham, Vol. III, p.299

Oxford Archaeology 2005 Archaeological Evaluation Report, Taplow Court (Phase 2), Taplow, Buckinghamshire, unpublished client report prepared for SGI-UK.

Rutland, James, 1853, Extracts from the Diary of James Rutland relating to St Nicolas Church and Churchyard (Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies – Ref: D-GR/14/84/1).

Scrimgeour, G, E, and Farley, M, 1987 Taplow and its setting, unpublished report, Buckinghamshire SMR.

Stocker, D, and Went, D, with an Introduction by Farley, M, 1995 The evidence for a pre-Viking church adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon barrow at Taplow, Buckinghamshire, Arch. J.

152, 441-454.

Ward, M, 1995, Archaeological Survey at Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire, Durham University unpublished dissertation.