The Lost Village of Merston

THE LOST VILLAGE OF MERSTON By A. F. ALLEN' ON 10th July, 1956, a piece of fourteenth-century coffin slab was ploughed out of a field belonging to Green Farm, Shorne, at Map reference 704723, approximately 45 feet west of the parish boundary of Shorne. It was known that a simUar find had been made nearby some twenty years before, and further examination of the field (which showed no surface indications of any sort except a few flints and tUes) seemed desirable. With the kind permission of Mr. Frank Hollands, the owner of the farm, excavation was carried on during the summers of 1956 and 1957, with the result that the site of the church of the lost village of Merston, the existence and whereabouts of which have been the subject of much speculation among local archaeologists (and many misleading stories) has now been precisely ascertained. At a depth of nine inches from the surface of the field the rammed chalk foundations of an aisleless apsidal buUding were found, having an extreme length of 53 feet 9 inches to the crown of the apse, and a width of 20 feet, both measurements being taken to the outside edge of the foundations (see sketch). The waUs of this buUding had been entirely removed, being represented only by a few flints stUl embedded in a sandy mortar on the southern side of the foundations, a thick layer of sandy mortar (which when first uncovered was a bright clean yellow) on the foundations themselves, and a mass of faUen flints and tUes embedded in the ground between the foundations. The remaining fragments of the coffin slab were found outside the foundations on the north side of the church, and from the fact that no trace of a grave could be detected beneath the slab (no deep excavation was made) and that the edge of the slab projected a matter of two inches over the chalk foundations at one point, it was inferred that the slab had been moved from its original position, probably inside the church, but no trace of this original position was found inside the line of the foundations, nor were any other simUar stones found inside the church.1 The site yielded httle information about the construction or appearance of the church. Flint was obviously the material of the waUs, which were plastered inside, smaU fragments of smooth plaster being 1 It should be observed that to avoid disturbing any possible burials, the interior of the church was not dug to a greater depth than six inches below the upper edge of the foundations. 198 THE LOST VILLAGE OF MERSTON Chalk cross wall C o f f in Slab ~~ Traces oi fires' Clean. Earth witH only a. few f l i n t s „„" •a> °, 0& " > * 0 «$&•