"What Lies Beneath? Holy Trinity Cookham"
Online
Thursday 11th June 2026
a talk by Les Capon, Paul Seddon and James Peddle
As a standing building, Holy Trinity Church, Cookham, has a past that goes back to the early twelfth century. But recent works at the church have allowed archaeologists to get a view of what lies under the floor.
The most recent were the extensive works in 2024/5 in which the flooring of the nave was removed for installation of an underfloor heating system. These works were monitored by archaeologists AOC Archaeology, the main work being conducted by Les Capon who gives tonight's talk. Going back to 1992 a series of smaller interventions for building works were monitored by various archaeological units. Paul Seddon will present a summary of the archaeological findings from these. They take the history of the church site back to the predecessor church(es) recorded in Domesday Book and possibly relating to the Abbey recorded in the charter of AD 798. The finds hint at prehistoric use, as do some of the features visible today in the churchyard, all pointing to a spiritual history of this part of Cookham going back thousands of years.As a standing building, Holy Trinity Church, Cookham, has a past that goes back to the early twelfth century. But recent works at the church have allowed archaeologists to get a view of what lies under the floor.
Before the latest works took place, James Peddle ran a project to record medieval graffiti in the church. He will present a brief illustrated summary of our ancestors' informal contribution to the artwork of the church.
This talk has been arranged by Maidenhead Archaeology and History Society to bring together this archaelogical narrative and also to raise much-needed funds for Friends of Cookham Abbey and Holy Trinity Church.
