Church of Our Lady, Seaton Delaval.

[NZ 3219 7642] Church of Our Lady, C of E. (1)

Small Norman church with 14th and 19th century additions. (2)

In normal use. (3)

Church of Our Lady, Grade I.
Parish church, formerly manorial chapel. Early 12th century, probably incorporating earlier fabric; east end rebuilt c.1330, restoration and addition of west porch 1895. Three-cell plan. (4)

The Church of Our Lady, built of squared stone with slate roof. This was the Delaval family's private chapel until the 1890s. The church is approached by a drive south-east off The Avenue between gatepiers. (5)

The church contains, at the eastern chancel end, a burial vault constructed for members of the Delaval family. This was accessed through a series of steps located in the centre of the chancel, covered by a concrete slab in the 1960s, before a door at the base of the steps. Only the metal straps and rebate of the door, as well as a chain and padlock, remained when investigations were carried out during December 2010.
The vault is rectangular in plan, 4.2 m east-west by 3.6 m north south, and occupies almost the full area of the Sanctuary; its east end is more or less in line with the Sanctuary east wall, although the side walls are set c .25 m inside the lines of those above. It is covered by a shallow segmental vault, springing from the side walls at half its central height of 2.1 m. The walls and vault are of neatly-squared sandstone and the whole vault been cut directly into the bedrock of the area. There are six lead coffins remaining in the vault of various shapes and dates relating to members of the Delaval family; these include five coffins mounted on blocks towards the east end of ther vault. The coffins are typical of higher status coffins and include studwork making specific identifications possible with the records made during a previous opening of the vault in the 1890s. A pair of rare anthropoid shaped coffin were also recorded. (6)

An archaeological evaluation and watching brief was carried out at the church in 2014 to assist investigations into the cause of structural movement of the building; it included investigation of the drainage system and foundations as well as the ground conditions.
Four evaluation trenches were excavated, each 1m by 1m and a maximum 0.9m deep. Trench 1 revealed an articulated skeleton probably of a 15-year old female; Trenches 2 and 4 revealed features predominantly associated with a Victorian drainage system around the church, including a stone-built sump or soakaway, as well as some disarticulated human remains in Tr 2); no archaeological features were found in Trench 3.
A watching brief was conducted in September 2013 during borehole drilling and groundworks. Eleven trenches were observed located adjacent to the church walls and its iimmediate surroundings. They have characterised the foundations by exposing short sections along the north and south sides of the early 12th century nave, where a straight wall face sits upon a base of cobbles/rubble. Short sections exposed along the north, east and south sides of the 1330s chancel and sanctuary revealed they were of a similar construction to the nave. Invesigations around the 1890s porch revealed a stepped foundation of coursed masonry on a bed of cobbles.
The absence of burials on the north side of the church (Trenches 3 and 4) suggests this part of the churchyard was not widely used, if at all, for burial. Suggestions that the church originally had an apsidal east end have not been corroborated during these works; no evidence of such a structure, nor of significant building debris, was found in Trench 1. (7)

A watching brief in January 2021, around the west and south-west end of the church, revealed a sandstone wall which is thought likely to pre-date the current porch (probably built in the 1890s) and may represent the relict foundations of an earlier, larger church of probable medieval date. A number of disarticulated human bones were also discovered. (8)

Church of Our Lady, Norman, in normal use. (9a)