Exhibition: The History of Walton Hall

St Michael’s Church – excavation in the 1970s

During the restoration of St Michael's Church by The Open University in 1975-76, excavation was carried out by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation Archaeology Team. Evidence of the original 1189 church walls were found at the bottom of the inner wall of the nave. Among the many finds were fragments of Medieval painted glass, c.1400, original Medieval floor tiles, c.1500 (from the neighbouring Brickhill Kiln c.1420-1540) and part of a twelfth century font.

A list of several of the items found during the restoration is included on this handwritten plaque which is currently displayed in the church. The items listed on the plaque are:

• Bronze objects: 36 pins, 3 buttons, 1 buckle 
• Bricks: 14 fragments
• Coins: 1 Rose Farthing of Charles I – 1644, 2 Richmond Farthings of Charles I – 1636-1644, 1 illegible of late 17^th-18^th century 
• Tokens: Robert Honner of Fenistratford 1655, John Rowley of Luton 1657, Nurenberg Counter (Hans Krauwinckel) 1589
• Clay tobacco pipes: 45 fragments 
• Floor tiles: 6 whole tiles and 193 fragments made at Little Brickhill late 15^th – early 16^th century
• Glass: 87 fragments of medieval window glass, a few were decorated
• Neck of pale blue bottle 17^th century
• 1 window latch and numerous nails 
• 1 awl
• 1 last (shoemaker’s tool)
• 25 fragments mainly from the church windows
• Pottery: 88 shards dating from the late 12^th century to the 18^th century 
• Wall plaster: 84 small fragments painted with plain white limewash
• Worked stone: fragments of 12^th century font found buried beneath a later font base

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The images on this page show some of the items found in the church during its restoration. They include two steel shroud pins which may date from the nineteenth century or earlier. Shroud pins were used to pin together the burial shrouds in which the body was wrapped and a large number of them were discovered in St Michael's Church. It has also been suggested that several of the pins found were from a Lace School held in the Church. These schools, set up by parish officers, were common in Britain from the seventeeth to the nineteenth centuries and were created to provide a trade for local pauper children, although the conditions and treatment in them were extremely harsh. Buckinghamshire became a centre of the cottage lace industry from the mid-sixteenth century until the late nineteenth century. A thread picker, fashioned from animal bone, was also discovered in St Michael's Church. It would have been used to release knots and tangles during weaving and dates from the post Medieval period. It may be viewed here. 

The second image shows three metal objects: an unidentified iron object - possibly part of a door hinge, an iron trivet and a lead handle. Their dates are unknown. The third image shows a decorated bronze or copper book clasp dating from the late seventeeth century. It is similar to the book clasps found on large eighteenth and nineteenth century church service and prayer books or family Bibles.   

All of the artefacts recovered from St Michael's Church are now archived at Milton Keynes Museum along with several more archaeological finds from the surrounding area of Walton Hall. Photographs of some of these objects may be viewed elsewhere in this exhibition including on the previous three pages. 

View a video about St Michael's Church

Today St Michael's Church is no longer in religious use and the interior space is used for a variety of events and clubs run by The Open University. In a short video from 2018, Senior Lecturer in Art History Dr Susie West takes a look at St Michael's Church, focusing principally on its structure and design, both exterior and interior. The video can be viewed here.