Excavated in Spring 1978 showed a possible timber Saxon church under the C11 unicellular apsidal masonry church.<1> The north wall of the nave, built of indurated conglomerate, dates from c.1000 AD as excavation has shown - this building had an apsidal east end later converted into the present square ended chancel. Numerous early Romanesque carved stones were reused in the present walls.<2> After stripping of the external rendering a C11 Saxo-Norman door arch turned in Roman tiles was revealed in a supposedly C14 structure. The churches major features and the complex fabric of the north wall of the nave were recorded and limited trenches exposed a continuous nave and apsidal chancel almost certainly Saxon. Built into the original wall was the C11 doorway which was blocked before the C14.<3> Three small features excavated may be interpreted as the partial remains of a timber building. The religious nature of the pre-masonry phase is suggested by the presence of the possibly early grave. The postulated building was also closely aligned to the axis of the later church. The earliest masonry foundations revealed a single celled apsidal plan - this could be of pre-Conquest date and it is possible that a belfry was present at this time. The carved tympanum stone reused in the early Norman blocking of the north nave door may have come from an even earlier opening. There are a number of carved Romanesque stones present within the standing fabric.<4>
Photographic record of the church and excavation in Essex HER.<5>-<8> Other ref.<9> Finds in Colchester Museum.<10>

Of the C11 building, much of the N. wall survives, with blocked Saxon doorway. Materials include Roman tiles, septaria and puddingstone. Chancel enlarged and squared off in the late C13, S. aisle and porch addedd early C14. Timber belfry C14-C15.<11>

Four digital photographs taken in August 2016.<11>