Burials by the church wall??

[Preraphaelite]

Hello all!

I have been puzzling for a while over this, and trust there will be someone out there who is a little more knowledgeable than me!

I have an ancestor (8 x g-grandfather? haven't quite done the maths yet!) who is buried at the side of a church.  When I say at the side of a church, I mean literally that - his headstone, and those of several of his immediate family are lined up along the south wall of the building.  I considered that they may have been buried elsewhere in the churchyard, and that the headstones may have toppled and been placed against the wall for safety, but they do seem to be firmly rooted there!  Also, I have seen an old photo from the 19th C which shows the headstones already in that position. My question is - why would they have been buried there?  I assume it means that "many greats Grandad" would have had something to do with the church, or was highly regarded in the community in some way, but is there any "standard" reason why someone would be buried against the church wall?

There are no clues in the headstone inscriptions. Also I have checked for any records in the local history library.

For anyone particularly interested, the man in question is John Budden 1709-1789, buried at Canford Church, Dorset. I don't know what his profession was, but many of his family were Wheelwrights.

Any ideas 

[goldy]

I cant find anythingabout a John Budden died 1789 but have fond John Budden (1709-1797)  http://www.thedorsetpage.com/Genealogy/Names/names_b.htm#Budden

if I've got the right church there seems to have been a lot of changes in the building maybe they didn't start out near the wall? http://www.canfordparish.org/history.html

[Preraphaelite]

Thanks for your response goldy.

Oops, silly me - John Budden did of course die in 1797.  I've looked at that date a gazillion times - I don't know why I typed 1789! 

I have found the websites you mentioned before - yes you have got the right church!  My ancestor's headstones are situated along the south facing wall of the South Chapel.  According to the church website, this part of the building dates from the 14th C so would have been there long before the graves, but good lateral thinking there!

I remember visiting another church once (can't recall where) which had a grave stone up against the building  - it was to honour a long-standing church sexton, but this was clearly indicated on the inscription.  The inscriptions for "my lot" are very faint and covered in lichen, but I managed to decipher them all, and they all feature just names and dates. I'll see if I can dig out some of my pictures of them.

I think perhaps I should try contacting someone at the church itself.  I have no idea whether churches hold that kind of information on burials - other then just a "map" of the plots.  I'm not even sure who at the church I need to speak to.

I suppose what I was originally asking was - is there some kind of protocol for who can be buried in such a site right beside a church?

[Old Mother Reilly]

I can't recall there being any hard and fast rules for "which burial where" (apart from consecrated v.s unconsecrated ground), though I have come across some "rules of thumb" - I haven't yet come across one for being buried alongside the wall of the church itself though - sorry!

Inside the church: the closer to the altar (main or side chapel), the more influential the person.

In the churchyard: burials close to the pathway leading to and around the main door tend to be those of more promenant citizens - though as a graveyard fills up, this obviously becomes less evident over time.

Some churchyards tend to group their clergy together if they are not interred within the church itself, often in an acessible area.

To be buried on the northern side of the church was regarded as less desirable and I have heard such burials referred to as being "on the devils side".

Perhaps you could contact the church?  If they have any vestry books dating back that far they might be able to check them for you.

[Lydart]

My gut feeling re the headstones against the south wall, is that they were probably fallen stones that have been placed there sometime in the past for safety reasons; some churches use fallen stones for paving  ... so you are lucky yours is safe !

The 'devils side' is, according to superstition (which has NO place in a Christian setting !) the north side of the churchyard.   In our church, we are slowly filling up this side with graves but working up that side from the east, thus graves there are referred to as being on the 'north-east' side ... thus making it sound a little less sinister for those who are superstitious ! 

For any information, you could write to the vicar (enclosing an SAE) to ask what records there are.  Old vestry records SHOULD have been deposited in the county archives or the diocesan office ... but alas, many are not and lie gently mouldering away in damp vestries !   Don't ask the vicar to look things up for you ... they are usually very busy people looking after several parishes ... but may be able to suggest a date/time when you could go and look ...

Good luck !

[Preraphaelite]

Thank you Old Mother Reilly! I am very relieved to learn that my family were not buried on the "devil's side"!

I will do as you suggest and contact the church and enquire about the vestry records.  Hopefully I will discover some interesting facts as to why they were buried there.  It will be nice to have some prominent citizens in the family  

I have just had another look at my photos of the graves, and noticed something possibly a little odd.  John's wife Mary died 18 years before him, but she is also buried in the same grave and commemorated on the headstone. So perhaps she was the eminent person, as she was here first? Unless they exhumed her grave from another location after her husband died?!

I enclose photos of the grave stone - I had to take two close-up shots to show the inscriptions clearly. I've also resized the images, so hopefully they won't be too big here!

[Preraphaelite]

Thanks Lydart for the extra information.  I didn't know whether I should write to the vicar directly, but I will do as you suggest.  Yes, I had also considered that the stones had been placed there for safety - that is very possible of course although they have been sited there for a very long time.

The following image is from the Francis Frith collection.  It was taken in 1886 and shows the graves alongside the nearest corner of the building, as you view it. (funny how the Norman tower was completely covered in ivy then - bet that took some work removing!)

[Chris in 1066Land]

Hi there

Just to add my twopenneth

It would appear to me that the church has had one or more additions to it over time and I suggest that the stones were moved to the side of the building as shown to facilitate this.  Nowadays the authorities tend to exhume the contents of the grave and re-inter them in another part of the yard, but in past times what was once outside the church is now inside the church.

I think the picture shows extensions upon the South Side which these stones abutt - checking old pictures of the church or the vestry minutes should give you a good idea as to what happened

Chris in 1066

[Lydart]

I'll bet the bit I have arrowed is newer than the rest ... it doesn't follow the normal pattern of village churches ...