The present church of St Augustine in Kirkby, constructed in 1815, stands on the site of previous churches going back over centuries. We are working on a project to research the history of the site.
Kirkby Church Excavations
Kirkby, Kirby and Cherchbi are three of the spellings that have been applied to the village. What they all have in common is the fact that the name is given because of the presence of a church when the Vikings arrived to name the community. That is why we have been using geophys surveys in conjunction with the York Archaeology Trust to try to find the original Saxon church. Recently a further survey using magnetometry was undertaken and we also dug a test pit where previous surveys had suggested we might find a positive result. This has revealed quite close to the surface several worked stone fragments then a layer of mortar and a single large worked stone. We believe this is very probably the foundation of the original church. One piece of northern gritty ware was found , apparently this dates to Norman times and it was found immediately above the mortar. The worked stones are to the side of the churchyard close to the excavation.
Some pictures of the excavations at Kirkby Churchyard showing the remains of what are thought to be the foundations of the original Saxon church