London - All they wanted was to get rid of the leylandii blocking sunlight to their cottage.
When Mary and Mike Hudd took an axe to the tree, however, they ended up shedding light on a centuries- old mystery.
For buried beneath their front garden was a long-lost medieval chapel.
And despite their entire front garden being reduced to a series of muddy trenches, archaeology enthusiast Mrs Hudd is delighted with the find.
The retired teacher, who has lived in the cottage since 1968, said: “How we have managed to miss it in our garden I don’t know. We had a drive put in in the 1970s and it missed the southwest corner by inches. The east corner just misses the road.”
The foundations of the 12th century building were discovered after the leylandii and several other trees were removed from the couple’s garden in the Wiltshire hamlet of Bincknoll.
Archaeologists were called in to investigate and are convinced they have found the early Norman chapel, the exact location of which had been a mystery for centuries.
The 19ft by 52ft building comprised two rooms – a chancel and a knave – believed to have been built around 1100 after the Norman conquest.
Archaeologists say it had religious significance long before that too. Evidence was also uncovered of an earlier Anglo Saxon “cell” measuring 16ft by 16ft. This could have been used by a priest to lead ceremonies while the worshippers stood outside.
The last official mention of Bincknoll’s medieval chapel was in 1609, when it was described as “decayed”.
Mrs Hudd, 68, said: “It’s been brilliant. I’m interested in history and archaeology anyway so to have a bunch of people here has been fantastic.
“I’ve certainly been helping out. I have been in the trenches on my knees. I have never spent so much time on my knees in a chapel before.”
With the excavation now nearly complete, however, Mrs Rudd faces the prospect of having to cover the site over again to protect it from deterioration. She said: “I will be disappointed to cover it up.”
Emma Elton of the Broad Town Archaeology Project, a group of volunteers who carried out 40 days of excavations on the site, said: “It was amazing to find what everyone thought was lost. It’s not what you expect to find in someone’s garden.”
Daily Mail