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St Michael’s Churchyard

A Survey of the Burial Plots in St Michael’s Churchyard by Eric Chown

Introduction

This survey of the burials in the parish church has been undertaken with kind permission of the church. It continues the work of a previous survey dated about 2004 edited by Sir Mervyn Medleycott. His list of memorials includes all of those inside the church but only the older headstones in the churchyard and should still be referred to for such memorial searches. This record is for general study and the casual enquiry, but it is hoped it complements the previous work.

The survey has tried to collate all the know burials and cremation plots in a readable fashion enabling enquiries to be answered easily and quickly. Comprising of an index of all names, plus a series of plans covering the various areas of the churchyard. This includes a complete list of inscriptions, as written, with the style of memorial and where needed a comment on condition.

Drawing on a plan produced by James E Cole in 1988 (see below) it uses the same row numbering system to avoid any confusion for enquiries using earlier documentation. The row numbering starts from the wall in the North West corner and going all around the churchyard walls, ending at the South West corner of the churchyard.

Click image to enlarge

Anyone searching with a name should be able to find it in the Index of Burial Plots by Surname, which will give the location and the row number to use in the search enabling a grave site to be easily located. Where there is more that one grave with the same name the full initials are given to assist searches.

Sadly there are some unidentified graves, often just flowers or a flower holder. Some names have been included as being marked on the earlier survey. These will be researched with a view to adding extra details to this list. Anyone with details of the unknown graves may contact the church officers to update the records.

The following links display the details for the nine sections shown in the churchyard plan above

Burial Plots in Section A (North West)
Burial Plots in Section B (War Memorial)
Burial Plots in Section C (North Central)
Burial Plots in Section D (North of Church)
Burial Plots in Section E (North East)
Burial Plots in Section F (South East)
Burial Plots in Section G (South of Church)
Burial Plots in Section H (South Central)
Burial Plots in Section I (South West)

Please respect this place and walk carefully as the ground is often uneven and the gravestone surrounds themselves might cause falls. Some of the memorials have been laid down to lessen risk. Those who visit this quiet little churchyard should keep younger children controlled.

Opinions expressed and transcriptions here are my own, errors in such a large survey will creep in and I apologise if any are found. They can be rectified as this record is now held on computer. The shape of the churchyard and the disposition of the graves has been difficult to portray accurately and I hope that any slight deviations in position will be understood.