Sunderland minster, st Michaels & all angels

[stanmapstone]

It depends very much on the particular church, some graveyard plans do exist, but in this case both the old grave yard around the church and the cemetery in Galley's Gill, have been landscaped, the graves covered over. When the Galley's Gill cemetery was landscaped in 1972 some tombstones were stood up against the perimeter wall, and can still be seen, however the writing is almost illegible. I understand that a few tombstones are also against the wall at St. Michael's and  some used as flagstones around the church. Of course records exist of the location of graves in Municipal Cemeteries.

Stan

[Ruskie]

Have you checked if there are Memorial Inscriptions for this graveyard?

Also, not everybody had a headstone.

[jwilko]

My knowledge of genealogy is you find the correct BMD records and census matches and you use them and parish records to trace your tree. I've never put any further thought into what other records might exist to assist in my research after a death.

Where would I find out about monumental inscriptions at the church?

My way of thinking is surely a church kept records of the dead buried in each plot?  I think stan has said this information is recorded so a headstone is no longer necessary. I need to find out where to find it? What am I searching for stan and who do I need to ask?

John

[stanmapstone]

Durham County Record Office have no records of Graves or Grave Plans for St. Michael & All Angels Bishopwearmouth.

Stan

[stanmapstone]

Where would I find out about monumental inscriptions at the church?
John

Northumberland & Durham Family History Society, http://www.ndfhs.org.uk/ have a fiche of Bishopwearmouth St. Michael & All Angels Monumental Inscriptions, see http://www.ndfhs.org.uk/Resources_DUR.pdf

Stan

[jwilko]

Would monumental inscriptions cover headstones and tombs?

John

[Ruskie]

Monumental Inscriptions are transcripts of what was written on the gravestones. Some information about the process here:
http://www.gravematters.org.uk/

Sometimes these are illegible, or the stones may have been removed or fallen prior to the transcriptions being taken, so not every gravestone that ever stood in this graveyard would necessarily have been transcribed.

Many families could not afford a headstone.

[jwilko]

Thank you for the help. Do either of you know of a website online that allows me to view old maps of Durham and Northumberland? I found a website some time back and it came up in a map viewer box like google maps but I could select the year in a drop down box to the side and see Sunderland as it was during all of the census years. It was a great site but I can't find it anymore

[stanmapstone]

I think you mean http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html
You could also try http://www.durham-images.org/public/cemeteries/maps.html
http://gis.durham.gov.uk/website/interMAP/viewer.htm

Stan