St. Mary’s Parish Church, Hickling. Survey of the Churchyard & Memorial Inscriptions Presented in December 2003 to the Parochial Church Council by the
Hickling Local History Group Revised 30th of June 2011
INTRODUCTION
© 2003 Adapted for viewing on the Internet by: AC/HC - October 2010 Hickling History: Email;
[email protected]
Revised October 2010
HICKLING LOCAL HISTORY GROUP ST. MARY’S CHURCHYARD SURVEY First published December 2003 & regularly updated INTRODUCTION The Local History Group was formed following a Millennium Exhibition held in the village in the year 2000. One of its first projects was to review and complete the survey of the churchyard at St. Mary’s, which was begun by the Women’s Institute in 1980. The W.I. had surveyed only the Old Churchyard. The new extension, opened in 1932 and consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Norwich the Right Reverend Bertram Pollock, M.A., D.D., K.C.V.O. on Saints Philip and James’ day (1st May), was left unrecorded. The Group’s aim was to re-survey the old churchyard, checking all the existing information, and to create new plans and records, together with a history of the churchyard. All the memorials inside and outside the building itself, and in the Old Churchyard and New Churchyard Extension are recorded here. There are now also burial plans for the New Churchyard Extension, and for the Site for the Burial of Cremated Remains, which show where people are buried, even if there is no memorial. The Churchyard Survey Team was formed in March 2002, jointly led by Helen Cornwell and Kath Moody, who together planned & co-ordinated the survey, and checked and re-checked all the data collected. Other members were: Janet Amis; Pauline Brooks; Merrie Longbottom; Maureen Noye; Val Staley; and Shirley Watt. The typist was Helen Cornwell, who also wrote this Introduction, the Story of the Survey, and other ancillary notes. Tony Cornwell drew the new plans and the monument shapes, and did the printing. Ivor Kemp (our Chairman until October 2003) wrote the Brief History of the Churchyard. This record was presented to St. Mary’s on 14th December 2003, and received by the Reverend Neville Khambatta on behalf of the Parochial Parish Council. It is regularly updated. CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK: Section 1
Complete Alphabetical Register of Names - Old and New Churchyards.
Section 2
Notes for the Churchyard Browser.
Section 3
A Brief History of St. Mary’s Churchyard.
Section 4
Story of the Survey.
Appendix A
Monument shapes.
Appendix B
Drawings of Memorials.
Appendix C
Photographs.
There are two further books. Each contains instructions to help you to find the people buried or commemorated there.
“CHURCH AND OLD CHURCHYARD” and “NEW CHURCHYARD” © 2003 Revised October 2010
NOTES ABOUT THE ALPHABETICAL REGISTER
The following pages contain the complete alphabetical register of names found in both old and new churchyards. For further information, you are referred to the other two books – “CHURCH AND OLD CHURCHYARD” and “NEW CHURCHYARD”. Names found on memorials inside the church are not included in this register, but a complete listing of memorials inside the church and on the sundial over the porch can be found in the “CHURCH AND OLD CHURCHYARD” book. The following is a key to the grave references:
GRAVE REFERENCE
BOOK
Number only
Church and Old Churchyard
Number prefixed by C
Church and Old Churchyard
Number prefixed by N
New Churchyard
Number prefixed by S
New Churchyard
© 2003 Revised October 2010
SECTION 1 Complete Alphabetical Register of Names Old and New Churchyards.
© 2003 Revised October 2010
ST. MARY’S CHURCH HICKLING ALPHABETICAL REGISTER (N.B. for recent additions see last page)
OLD & NEW CHURCHYARDS 1700 – 2010 AND ONWARDS SURNAME
CHRISTIAN NAMES
GRAVE NO:
ABIGAIL ABIGAIL ACHARD ADDY ADDY ADDY ALCOCK ALDIS ALLEN ALLEN ALLEN
Redvers Stanley William Witham Alexander Louis Harriett Ruth Harriett Elizabeth Elizabeth Ruth Frances Ellen (Née Marjoram) Harriet Mary Sarah Celia Dorothy Robert James
241 242 211 SB16 SC25 SD05 SF27 278 325 SG16 SG16
ALLISON ALLISON AMIS AMIS
Walter Jacob (Ben) Phyllis Irene (Totty) Alfred Arthur Gwendolen Louise
NC03 NC03 ND21 ND21
AMIS AMIS
Ada Harriet Walter Robert
ND28 ND28
AMIS AMIS
Sophia Janet Alethea
SA18 SG 8
AMISS AMISS
Reginald Charles Edward Charles
NA27 NC28
AMISS AMISS
Caroline Helen Olga Ethel (ashes)
NE29 SC26
AMISS AMISS
Edward Charles Margaret (Madge) P.
SE13 SH28
ANDERSON ANDREWS
Mary (Née Layton) Anne
ANDREWS ANNISON ANNISON APPLEGATE APPLEGATE APPLEGATE APPLEGATE APPLEGATE
Solomon James (Commemoration only) John (Commemoration only) Laura Emily Charles Thomas Rosina Thomas Richard
275 332 332 227 NA03 NB06 NC10 NC10
APPLEGATE
Eric Lester
SE16
160 275
© 2003 Revised October 2010
APPLEGATE APPLEGATE APPLEGATE ARMES ARMSTRONG AUSTIC AUSTIC AUSTIC AUSTIC AUSTIC BAKER BAKER BAKER BANE BANKS BARBER BARBER BARBER BARBER BARBER BARKER BARKER BARKER BARKER BARKER BARKER BATCHELOR BATES BATES
Thomas Redvers Winifred Alice May Dorothy Irene Anne Thomas William Anna Maria Cubitt James William Charlotte Ann Frances Emily William Maurice Louis William Laura Mary (Née Borrett) Emily George Vincent Jonathan Alice Josephine George Sidney Laurence Esther Elizabeth Ann Robert Frederick Donald Louisa Bridget John Press Ann
BATES BATES BATES BATES BATES BATES
Robert George Ben Jane Benjamin Mary
BATES BATES BATTLEY BATY BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES
Mary Anna Jessie Anthony Archibald Jack Ada Mary Dorothy May Levern Percy John Mary
BEALES BEALES
Noah Ruth
SE19 SE19 SE16 324 CC11 186 186 186 280 281 NB23 NB23 SH16 16 316 267 267 268 ND17 ND17 311 312 322 327 327 ND27 SA25 7 29 29 89 90 91 246 247 248 249 SG24 NB15 CA09 CA09 109 110 217 217 © 2003
Revised October 2010
BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES
Hepzibah John Susanna Agnes Faith Noah Heather Kathleen Anna Elizabeth George Percy Edwin Norton Victoria Selina Violet Ethel George Charles Sydney Alfred Harold Evelyn Gertrude Sidney John Bessie Ruby Constance Alexandra Mabel Mary Emmeline Sarah John Mahala Elizabeth Edgar Daisy Althea Oliver William Dorothy Irene Herbert Wulfric Athol Katy Iris Waldo Wellington Athelstan
234 234 282 287 287 NA15 NB13 NB13 NC26 NC30 ND09 ND09 ND13 ND13 ND16 ND16 NE06 NE06 NE15 SB23 SB23 SC06 SC06 SD08 SD08 SE20 SE20 SE21 SE21
BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES
Ethel Annie John Velena Joyce Bertie Leroy Wilfred William Hetty Elizabeth
SE22 SE22 SF06 SF06 SF25 SF25
BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEALES BEAN BEAN BEAN
Desmond Sidney Maisie Irene Kenneth Albert Stanley Gordon Raymond Cecil Charles Ethelbert Alfred Daisy Elizabeth Gwendeline Harry
SF15 SF10 SF10 SG03 SG22 NE28 NE28 SE05
BECKETT BECKETT
Arthur Emily Christiana
155 157 © 2003
Revised October 2010
BECKETT BECKETT BEECHER BEECHER BEEVOR BEEVOR BEEVOR BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELL BELSON BELSON BELSON BENNETT BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP
Anna Sophia Hiram Harold Arthur Kate George Robert Grapes Ellen Lucy Elizabeth, & (Com’n. only) Robert George Ann Robert Ann Elizabeth James Ann Robert May Herbert Elijah James Ethel Elizabeth Muriel Ida Maureen Mildred (Ashes) Eveline Ethel Phil Marlene Joan Geoffrey Kenneth Benjamin Sarah Hannah James Maria James
158 159 NE03 NE03 SB02 SB02 SC04 129 129 205 205 206 206 NC24 NC24 SC27 SC27 SE15 SE15 NC20 NC20 SG 9 SH17 3 4 5 13 14 15
BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP
Violet May George Sarah Elizabeth Richard Ida Mary Robert James
253 NA05 NA30 NA30 ND24 ND24
BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP BISHOP
Dorothy Mary Edward William (Ashes) George Mark Lily Martha Catherine Ellen Ivan Robert David John Brian Harry
NE25 NE25 SC03 SD24 SG27 SG28 SG28 CB 4
BISHOP BLAND
Reginald David Peter
CC 6 CC 9 © 2003
Revised October 2010
BLAXELL BLAXELL BLAXELL BLISS BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BORRETT BOULTER BOULTER BOULTER BOULTER BOULTON BRACKENBURY BRACKENBURY BRACKENBURY BRAND BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID
Peter Desmond Harry Gilbert Elsie Elizabeth John Edward John Lucy Maria Mary Charlotte Mary (Lottie) Lionel Edward George Ernest Edith Jane Arthur John Clarke (Jack) Phyllis Mary (Roses) Raymond Daniel Atchison Caroline Jack Atchison Ruby Joyce Eliza Susan William Elizabeth William Dorcas Elizabeth George Elizabeth John
SE01 SE02 SE02 79 316 316 316 316 317 317 SB20 SB20 SG18 SG18 SH 8 SA09 SA09 SE26 SE26 SA04 128 130 131 321 152 152 152 152A 152A
BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID BRINDID
William Elizabeth Thomas Emily John Thomas
152 170 170 NA22 NA22 SA21
BRINDID BRINDID BROADHURST BROOKS BROOKS BROOKS BROOKS BROOKS
Minnie Lydia Michael John Frederick William Albert Edward Ellen Louisa Albert Edward Kathleen Mildred Robert John
SA21 SG21 SB05 SB28 SB28 SE14 SE14 SF22
BROOKS BROOKS
Gwendoline Sybil Terry Mervyn Owen
SF22 SH10 © 2003
Revised October 2010
BROWN BUCKMAN BURDETT BURGIS BURGIS BURLAND BURLEY BURTON BURTON BURTON BYGRAVE BYGRAVE BYGRAVE BYGRAVE BYGRAVE BYGRAVE BYGRAVE BYGRAVE CAMFIELD CAMFIELD CAMFIELD CARLSON CATER CATOR CATOR CATOR CATOR CATOR CATOR
John Elizabeth Beatrice Florence (Betty) Albert Edward Gertrude Annie Gordon Howard Samuel Edward James John Alice Ethel John Mary Alfred John John Robert John John Ann John Ernest Edmund Charles Ernest Edmund Ethel Florence Eliza Kevin Johan Emma Robert Henry Ethel Georgina Arthur George Phyllis Dorothea (Commemoration Only) Harry Bertram Alice Mabel
164A 135 NE27 NA20 NA20 NE02 NA01 24 65 SH26 40 41 64 64 64 313 313 NA21 SD04 SE23 SE23 SF18 SH23 SB17 SB17 SH21 SH21 SH25 SH25
CATOR CAULK CAULK CAULK CAULK CHAPMAN
Gordon John Elizabeth Mary John Juliet
SH14 48 49 50 51 47
CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN
William Elizabeth Reuben Elizabeth Eliza Samuel Elizabeth Charlotte
47 163 192 226 228 229 235 239
CHAPMAN CHAPMAN
John George
239 286 © 2003
Revised October 2010
CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHAPMAN CHASE CHASE CHURCH CHURCH CLARK CLARK CLARK CLARKE CLARKE CLARKE CLARKE CLARKE CLARKE
Sarah Emily Eliza (formerly WOOLSTON, widow of James) Emily Jane Ernest Noah Walter William Albert Lewis Eliza Ann Henrietta Louise Harold Gladys Irene Lewis John Arthur Henry Ellen Rachel Mary Ann Alfred Cubitt Agnes Georgina Sarah Charles Edward Esther John Frederick John Derrick Betty (Ashes) Alice Kate James John Sarah Agnes Daniel Elizabeth
286 196 NA25 NA25 NB09 NC27 NC27 ND26 ND26 NE16 NE16 SA27 SA27 SB09 SC24 SC24 NA26 NA26 305 306 NE26 NE26 SC12 72 72 72 231 231 231
CLARKE CLARKE CLARKE CLAY CLIFTON CLIFTON
Louisa Ada Elizabeth Grace Royal Dorothy May Rowland Wallace Maureen Blanch
231 SC15 CD12 SF08 SG25 SG25
COBDEN COBDEN COLLEY COOK COOKE COOKE COOKE CROME
Pamela J. Rosemary Ann Thomas Allan John Frances Charles Anna Elizabeth Ann
SA05 SA05 NF14 NE26 230 301 302 73
CROME CROME
Elizabeth Samuel
73 73 © 2003
Revised October 2010
CROWE CROWE CROWE CROWE CROWE CROWE CROXTON CROXTON CUBITT CURTIS DACK DACK DAVEY DAVIS DAWSON DEARY DEARY DEARY DEARY DEARY DEFEW DEFEW DEFEW DEVINE DOUGHTY DOUGHTY DOVE DOVE DOVE
Anne Mary John Martha Will Kenneth William Mary William James Samuel Benjamin Agnes Mary George Seth (Commemoration only) Roderick Bruce Emma Jane Robert Thomas Mary Thomas Hector Sylvia Florence Arthur John Frederick James Gertrude Elizabeth Mary Eleanor Thomas Arthur Ann Elizabeth Herbert
19 35 36 37 38 SH 7 274 274 296 174 SC18 SC18 NB32 SD20 156 263 265 303 303 304 300 NC29 NC29 CC12 74 75 SA13 SA13 SC09
DOVE DRABBLE DURHAM DURRANT DURRANT DURRANT
Alice Christine Lavinia Arthur Charles Augustus Eliza Thirza
SC09 SF 3 SH24 236 236 NA04
DURRANT DURRANT DURRANT DURRANT DUTCHMAN DUTCHMAN DYBALL DYBALL
Emmeline John Frederick Peter Allison Charles Jno Susanna Albert Ernest (Possibly in NE17) Dorothy Victoria (Possibly in NE17)
EAGLING EAGLING
Charles Sylvia Doreen
NA14 NA14 NA16 NA18 315 315 Unidentified Unidentified CA12 NF22 © 2003
Revised October 2010
EBBS EDGELL EDGELL EGLINGTON ELLIOTT ELLIOTT ELLIOTT ELLIOTT ELLIS ELLIS ELLIS ELPHICKE ELPHICKE ELPHICKE ELPHICKE ELPHICKE FABB FABB FAIRBAIRN-MORGAN FELTON FENN FINDLAY FISHER FISHER FLAXMAN FLETCHER FLINT FOX FOX
Robert Laura Mary Richard Herbert Hannah Althea Harriet (Thea) Gladys Evelyn Frank Joseph Frank Walter Mervyn Roy William Beatrice Annie Rose Agnes Brett Agate Cyril Joan Irene Olive Bernard Elizabeth Richard Carol Ann Annie Madeline Annette Thomas Miles Winifred Joan Ernest Joseph Lilian Benjamin Alfred George Rosina May Angelina John
179 NA02 NA02 56 SD16 SE24 SE24 SE24 CB09 NA09 SH18 319 319 NB17 NB17 NB30 321A 321A SH19 NE06 279 SC07 SA05 SA05 SC26 SA10 NE19 175 175
FOX FOX FOX FOX FOX FOX
Harriet Elizabeth Josiah Frances Emma Peter Mason Thirza Emma Elizabeth
203 SB06 SB06 SB12 SB12 SB30
FREEMAN GAMBLE GARRETT GARRETT GARRETT GAY GAY GAZE
Edward Alfred Hannah Reuben Royal Marcus Vincent Caroline Harrison William Ann Joanna
CC 8 55 107 108 133 326 326 59
GAZE GAZE
Sarah John
60 61 © 2003 Revised October 2010
GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GAZE GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS
John Elizabeth (formerly THAIN, widow of Samuel) George John John Juby (Commemoration on SC22) Priscilla John Charles Ada Jane Hannah (Commemoration only) Sarah Ann Elizabeth Amelia Thomas Alfred George Mary Clarissa George Walter J. Harriet Ethel Elizabeth Thomas Mary Robert Abiather Mary Four Infant Children of Enoch and Sarah Ann Frederick George Eliza
62 82 83 84 87 NA10 NA19 NA19 SC22 SC22 1 102 103 104 150 150 151 151 180 208 209 209 213 213 214 214 215 243 244
GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS
Frederick Ann Elizabeth Samuel Horace Herbert Henry Sarah
245 264 266 271A 298 298
GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS
Eliza John Lucy Mary Elizabeth (formerly WISEMAN, widow of John) Philip Thomas Gaze Nicholas
GIBBS GIBBS
Susanna Ann Eliza
318 318 318 318 320 320 320 329 NB05 NB07 © 2003
Revised October 2010
GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS GIBBS
Henry Charles Anna Maria Abiather Elizabeth John Beatrice Kathleen Enoch Elizabeth Thirza Mahala James Frederick Pointer Ethel Harriet Thomas James William Mahala Edward Christiana Edward Edith Jack Edward Rosina Alice John Henry Althea Sidney Gladys Edith Blanche Ellen Arthur Edgar William Robert William Robert
NB07 NB10 NB10 NB21 NB21 NB26 NB26 NC07 ND14 ND14 SA14 SA16 SA16 SA24 SB04 SB04 SB21 SC02 SC02 SD12 SD12 SD16 SD16 SD19 SD19 SD27 SD27 Unidentified Unidentified
GOFFIN GOFFIN GOLEBY GOLEBY GOLEBY GOLEBY
Robert Ruth Anna Elizabeth Charles Arthur Edward George Robert Florence
181 181 SA19 SA19 SA19 SA19
GOOSE GOOSE GORDON GORDON GOULDER GOWER GOWER GREEN
Mary Alice Wright Elizabeth Charles Alexander Cosmo Katherine Napier (Commemoration only) Chris C. Albert Edwin Jessie Winifred Roland
309 314 SE08 SE08 294 SC10 SC10 ND03
GREEN GREENACRE
Daisy Elizabeth John Russell
Unidentified SG15 © 2003
Revised October 2010
GRIMES GUNTON HALL HALL HALLIDAY HANNANT HANNANT HARBY HARBY HARBY HARBY HARBY HARRIS HARRIS HARVEY HASSALL HASSALL HAWES HAWES HAYES HAYES HAYLETT HAYLOR HAYLOR HERRING HERRING HIPGRAVE HIPGRAVE HISCOCK
Winifred May Benjamin William Mary Nigel Peter Ashton Victory Roy George Judith James Judith James Mary Susanna Joan May Thomas George Edward Audrey Fenn William Charles Christiana Mary William Alfred Lilian May Andrew John Florence Belinda Hubert Edward John James Matthew Lena Emily Thomas Henry Alice Susannah Ann
HODGSON HOLLAND HOWARD HOWARD HOWARD HOWARD
Christopher James Benjamin Anna Sarah Myhill Margaret William Myhill Judith Myhill
HOWARD HOWARD HOWES HOWES HOWES HOWES HOWLETT HOYLE
William Myhill George Jane George Sidney Eliza Susanah Viola May Rev. Ian Lesley
HUDSON HUDSON
Phyllis Harriet Lawrence (Husband of Phyllis Harriet)
NB25 NB16 334 335 SE10 NE04 SG17 145A 332 332 333 333 63 SG 7 28 SF21 SF21 SC16 SC16 CA11 CA11 SG11 NE24 NE24 SE03 SE03 SA20 SA20 39 NF 2 101 140 276 290 291 292 SC17 132 134 NC23 NC23 CB06 SF02 NE20 Unidentified © 2003
Revised October 2010
JARVIS JARVIS JOHNSON JOHNSON JOHNSON JOHNSON JOHNSON KERRISON KERRISON KERRISON KETTLE KING KING KING KING KING KING KING KING KING KNIGHT LACEY LAMB LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT
Howard John Doris Veronica Mary Marjorie Mary David Charles Henry Helen Patricia Mary Joseph Sarah Eaton Sarah Winifred Clara Emma Augusta Neal Rivers Neal Margaret Leopoldine Eugenie Louise David George Neal (Dick) Colin Charles Neal Florence Emma (Wife of Colin Charles Neal) John Edward Cleveland Nigel Mollie Doreen Ann Benjamin Angus Henry Benjamin Waldo Ruby Violet John Sarah John Edward William John
SG04 SG05 ND22 ND22 SF20 SF20 SH15 21 23 27 216 NB28 NC17 NC17 NC17 SB03 Unidentified SB03 SF09 SF09 95 SA23 222 CA10 CA10 119 120 121 122
LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT
Joshua Margaret Christianna Margerite William Henry Benjamin Bessie Gladys (formerly TURNER)
137 138 139 141 147A NC14
LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT LAMBERT
Ann Eliza Benjamin Frederick William Joshua Beatrice Anna Gilbert William Walter Elizabeth Maria Harry Redvers (Ashes)
ND29 ND29 SB14 SB14 SB14 SB29 SB29 SG23
LAMBERT LAWRENCE
Gladys Deborah Malvina
SG23 16 © 2003
Revised October 2010
LAYTON LAYTON LAYTON LAYTON LIGHTFOOT LING LING LINKHORN LINKHORN LINKHORN LIVARD LIVARD LUCAS MACE MACE MACE MACE MACK MACK MACK MACK MACK MADY MANN MANN MANN MARKIN MARKIN MARKIN
Joseph Mary Thomas Elizabeth Tom Benjamin Octavia Emma Emma Thirza James William James Herbert William Stanley Charles Eileen Florence Philip Burton Sarah Maria Kate Elizabeth Charles Sydney Geoffrey Charles Edward Sarah Edward Mary Margaret Blanche Sarah (ashes) John Henry Arthur Edward Clifford John Charles Henry Kate Ellen Kathleen Eva
160 160 160 161 CB08 SB15 SB15 NA17 NA17 SC23 ND04 ND04 200 SB10 SD09 SD09 SG14 142 143 144 144 145 SA09 ND19 SE09 SE09 232 232 232
MARKIN MARTIN MARTIN MASON MASON MASON
George Harry John William Lily Maria Anna James Robert James
NE09 NB20 NB20 169 169 171
MASON MASON MASON MASON MASON MASON MASON MASON
Mary Maria Robert Eliza Elizabeth Walter John Emily Alice Beatrice Alice
171 177 178 NA07 NA07 NB24 NC02 SB11
MASON MASON
John Christopher Robert
SB11 SB19 © 2003
Revised October 2010
MASON MAXWELL MAXWELL MAYHEW MAYHEW MAYHEW MAYHEW MAYHEW MCDERMID MCDERMID MEYNE MEYNE MILLS MINNER MINNER MINNER MITCHELL MITCHELL MITCHELL MITCHELL MITCHELL MONEY MOODY MOODY MOON MOON MOON MOON MOON
Ethel May Herbert Aymer Bouverie (Haymer) Betty Euphronia George Samuel Lucy Elizabeth Florence Julia Archibald Eric Ivan Theodore John Petronella Joan Elizabeth Nicholas Henricus Hannah Ethel Mary John Mary Edward Sidney George Ethel Martha Dorothea Michael Kevin Joan Barbara Ann Cecil Douglas Clive Howard Prudence Robert William Jane William
SB24 SF23 SF23 NB08 NE22 SF24 NF22 SF24 SE17 SE17 SE18 SE18 SC30 146 147 148 SD21 SD21 SD21 SG06 SH06 30 SE11 SF11 321 321 321 330 330
MOORE MOORE MOORE MOSELEY MOSELEY MYHILL
Robert William Ann Phillis Reynolds Percy Selina Reggie George
53 53 54 204 204 2
MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL
Tamason John Ann John Mary William Naomi Naomi
88 92 93 95 126 127 197 198
MYHILL MYHILL
Lewis H. Elizabeth
199 251 © 2003
Revised October 2010
MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL MYHILL NEAL
Richard Mary Ann Anna Sarah Margaret Henry Richard Alfred Edward Howard Harriet Ann Mary Lewis Ezra Howard Hetty Alice Louise Howard Oliver Richard Martha Evelyn William Albert Howard Audrey Thomas Henry Priscilla Elizabeth Eleanor Amelia Youngs Rowland George (Jimmy) Olive Grace (formerly Barker) William James Howard Jane Priscilla Howard Louis (Commemoration only) William (Commemoration only) James Ebenezer Edith Louise Katie Spanton Evelyn Edith Kenneth William Alec (Eric) Ann
NEAL NEAL NEAL NEAL NEAL NEAL
William Sophia Hannah William Frederick Samuel John Henry
NEAL NEAL NEAL NEAL NEAL NEALE NEALE NEAVE
Anna Elizabeth Samuel George William Eliza Ada John Mary Ann Agnes
NEAVE NEAVE
Jacob Jacob (Son)
251 277 293 293 NA06 NA08 NA08 NB11 NB11 NC19 NC19 ND10 ND10 ND18 ND18 ND20 ND20 ND27 SA03 SA03 SA03 SA03 SA30 SA30 SC05 SD15 SD15 SF07 32 32 136 149 149 153 153 154 154 NA24 NA24 NB28 252 252 18 18 18 © 2003
Revised October 2010
NEAVE NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWMAN NEWSTEAD NICHOLSON NOBBS NOBBS NOBBS NOBBS NOBBS NOCKELLS NOCKOLDS NORTON NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD
Mary Ann (Daughter) Mary Samuel John Mary Samuel Ann Gertrude Elizabeth Agneta A. Charles A. Ann John John Thomas Charles John Richard Arthur Arthur Frederick Frank Ernest Gertrude Maria Herbert Mary Eileen Catherine John Levi Alfred James Harriet John Althea
NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD
Harriet Abner (no grave now visible) Charles Charity Joshua Ann
NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD
Hannah John John Robert Thomas Robert Robert Sarah Elizabeth Thomas
NUDD NUDD
Alfred George Ann
18 66 68 98 99 240 269 270 271 271 289 289 NB15 ND30 328 NB04 NC22 SC19 SD17 SD17 183 313A CB11 118 118 166 166 166 166 167 North of 167 168 184 184 185 212 212 261 283 284 285 288 288 NB03 NB29 © 2003
Revised October 2010
NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NUDD NURSE OLLEY
Ellen Evangeline John Leroy Florence Mary Emily Katherine Rose Ernest Robert Mildred Rose Charles William Evelyn Patricia Maria Leon Emile James Ettie Harriet Cubitt William Thirza Cubitt Walter Michael Francis Arthur Eva Ellen Maurice Selwyn Almira Sarah Pleasance Maria Abner Stanley Myrtle William James Gerald Robert Charles George Sydney Frederick Robert Jane Elizabeth
NB31 NC08 NC08 NC09 NC15 NC31 NC31 NE13 NE13 SA06 SA17 SA17 SA26 SB13 SB13 SC21 SD10 SD26 SD28 SD28 SE04 SE04 SE28 SE28 SG20 SH27 Unidentified NC11 SA15
OLLEY OLLEY OSBORNE OSBORNE OSBORNE OXER
Florence Gertrude George Edward John Richard Bessie May Frank George Charles
SB25 SB25 SC08 SF04 SF04 SC29
OXER OXER PALLON PAMPHILON PAMPHILON PARKER PARKER PARKER
Charlotte May Ivy Lillian (formerly WOODROW ) Robert Jane Lily May Victor Cyril Myra Frederick Violet
SC29 SD29 57 SD14 SD14 CB07 CB12 CB12
PASSON PEAKE
Edmund Kenneth
52 SF28 © 2003
Revised October 2010
PEAKE PHILLIBY PILGRIM PILGRIM PILGRIM PLATTEN PLATTEN PLATTEN PLATTEN PLATTEN PLATTEN PLATTEN PLATTEN PLUMMER PLUMMER POLLARD POLLARD POLLARD POLLARD POLLARD POLLARD POOLEY POSTLE POSTLE POWLES POWLES PRATT PRATT PRATT
Joyce Hilda Irene John Mary Robert William Susanna Matilda John Anna Matilda Ann Eliza John Still-born child of David John and Mary Elizabeth Lillian Alice Robert John Charles Elizabeth Naomi Robert Percival James William Sarah Elizabeth James Henry Albert George Daisy Emma Violet Percy William Rhoda Edward George Alice Selina Ann Eliza William Henry C.
SF28 323 307 308 308 189 190 191 273 273 NC32 ND08 ND08 105 106 NB18 NB18 SA07 SA28 SA28 SB27 CA07 ND12 ND12 SA02 SA02 194 194 NB02
PRATT PRATT PRATT PRATT PRICKETT PRICKETT
Rebecca Elizabeth Ernest James Bertha Elizabeth William Dennis Agnes Georgiana John
NB02 ND25 ND25 SC20 NA23 NA23
PRIME RAMSEY READ REDVERS REEVES REYNOLDS REYNOLDS RICHARDSON
Michael Roy John Dennis (Ashes) Lucy Elizabeth Stanley Lily Emma (Ashes) Ruth Arthur George Ivy Lina
CC 7 SH23 SC04 207 SA09 NB12 NB12 NC25
ROBERTS ROBERTS
Iorwerth (Bob) Nancy Peace
SG26 SG26 © 2003
Revised October 2010
ROE RUSSELL RUSSELL RUSSELL SALMON SALMON SANKEY SEAGOE SHEPPARD SHEPPARD SHEPPARD SHEPPARD SHEPPARD SHEPPARD SHINGLES SIMS SIMS SIZER SKINNER SKIPPER SKOYLES SLIPPER SLIPPER SLIPPER SLIPPER SLIPPER SLIPPER SLIPPER SLIPPER
Name Illegible (Husband of Eliza) Maria Annie Elizabeth Herbert James William Harold Lt. Col. Robert Woodall Thomas Laura Harold William Valentine Gwendoline May Frederick Joseph Anthony Frank Joseph William (Unmarked grave visible only by daffodils in spring). Hilda Ada Henrietta Frederick John Dorothy Hilda May Elizabeth Joan Bertha Hannah Mary Ann Hezekiah Elizabeth Thomas Ann Benjamin Alice
33 182 NC07 NE12 65A SH20 SD25 233 NC13 NE18 SE06 SE06 CA05 West of 11 SE07 SE25 SE25 310 SD11 NC04 297 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 123
SLIPPER SLIPPER SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER
Hannah Thomas Charlotte Maria William John
124 125 171A 172 173 NB14
SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER SLOPER SMITH
Anna William Walter Sarah Ann Elizabeth Herbert Curtis Edith Christianna Ida Benjamin
NB14 NB19 NB19 SA22 SA22 SB08 SD23 146A
SMITH SMITH
Malcolm Robert Michael Stewart
ND05 ND15 © 2003
Revised October 2010
SMITH SMITH SMITH SMITH STEEL STEVENTON STEWARD STEWARD STEWARD STEWARD STEWARD STIMPSON STIMPSON STONE STONE STONE STONE STRANGE TALLOWIN TALLOWIN TAME TAME TANSLEY TANSLEY TAYLOR TAYLOR TAYLOR THAIN THAIN
Gerald William Lilian May Percy Herbert Nora Maggie Mary John (Jack) Samuel John Elizabeth Elizabeth Joshua John Ernest Walter George Gladys Rose Mary Richard Richard Samuel Ann James Geoffrey Arthur Joyce Francis Merrill Thomas G. Mary Frances Joyce Ivor Bryan Margaret Emma Ellen Blanche Mary Leonard Ethel Una Zipporah Ann Robert
ND31 ND31 NF29 NF29 SF05 CB10 44 45 46 94 96 NE11 NE11 40 41 42 43 22 NE08 NE08 CA08 CA 8 CB05 CB05 NA13 SA12 SC13 76 77
THAINE THAINE THEODORICK THYNNE TILLETT TILLETT
Jean Mary (Headstone on SB 9) Jack Frederick Thomas (Headstone on SB 9) Sarah Susannah Betty Valentine Alfred Edward
SB07 SB07 58 270 NE21 SB18
TILLETT TILLETT TILLETT TILLETT TILLETT TILLETT TOLL TOLL
Jane Anna Doris Rose George William Frederick Alfred Alfred Roy Kitchener Helen Elizabeth Jack Ivy Alice
SB18 SE27 SE27 SF17 SF26 SF26 ND07 ND07
TOLL TOLL
Rosemary Margaret Basil Jack
NE10 SH03 © 2003
Revised October 2010
TOONE TOWNEND TROREY TROREY TROREY TROREY TROREY TROREY TRORY TRORY TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUCK TUNGATE TUNGATE TUNMORE TUNMORE TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER
Hannah (formerly BYGRAVE, widow of John) Daisy Eunice Edward Elizabeth Harriet Eva Hannah William James George Sarah John Thomas Robert Robert Thomas Sarah Ann Elizabeth Hubert George John Mary Jane Walter George Annie Elizabeth Albert Emily May Harriet George (Illegible) wife of John John Press Mary Ann
237 ND02 11 11 12 17 100 259 260 NA12 187 188 250 NB22 NB22 NC12 ND23 SC07 SC07 SC14 SC14 SC28 SC28 SA08 SA08 8 9 10 34
TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER
Anna Elizabeth John Edward Robert Eleanor Alice Eleanor Whitelaw
219 219 220 221 223 224
TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER
James William John Alice Louisa John William Hannah Richard Ann Dutchman
225 238 254 255 255 256 257 258
TURNER TURNER
May Oliver Bond
NB27 NB27 © 2003
Revised October 2010
TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER TURNER VINCENT VINCENT VINCENT VINCENT VINCENT VINCENT WALKER WARNES WARNES WATERS WATERS WATERS WATERS WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS
Emma Maria Richard Frank Oswald William Charles William Selina Maud Ernest Samuel Edith Spanton Gladys May James Henry (Commemoration only) John Mary Rebecca Robert Austic May William Francis F. W. Jessie John George Henry Charles George Joyce May Rita Joy Ann Eliza William Frederick Philip Perkins Welcome John Frederick William Robert
NC05 NC05 NC14 ND11 ND11 SB22 SC05 CA04 CA04 162 162 164 164 165 165 262 SA29 SA29 NC18 SG19 SG19 SF16 193 193 195 195 NA28 NA28 NA31
WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS WATTS
Mary Minnie Jane Reginald James James Frederick Benjamin Ann Elizabeth (Ashes)
NA31 NC16 SA11 SA11 SC11 SC11
WATTS WATTS WATTS WEBB WHEELER WHEELER WHEELER WHITE
Percy Elsie Joyce Ida Rebecca Walter Lily Mabel Lily Julia Louisa Ann Verrent
WHITE WHITTAKER
John Joseph Henry
SD22 SD22 Unidentified NA29 NE14 NE14 SF19 SD07 SD13 SB26 © 2003
Revised October 2010
WHITTLETON WHITTLETON WHITTLETON WHITTLETON WILLIAMS WILLIAMS WILSON WILSON-NORTH WISEMAN WOODROW WOODROW WOODROW WOODROW WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTON WOOLSTONE WOOLSTONE WRIGHT WRIGHT WRIGHT WRIGHT WRIGHT WRIGHT
Mehetabel Marion Thomas Susanna Amelia (formerly FOX, widow of John) Sarah Jane Walter Alan Roy Patrick Peter Jno Mary Susannah Ash Martha James Henry Elizabeth Robert Ann Jeremiah James Benjamin Sidney William Ivy Irene Sarah (formerly MYHILL, widow of William) John David Thomas Elizabeth William Ann Joseph Alice Elizabeth
201 202 295 176 NC21 NC21 SH12 CA06 331 210 218 218 SD29 80 80 81 81 196 NC06 SE12 SE12 67 69 31 70 71 299 299 NA11
WRIGHT WRIGHT ZWALF ZWALF
William Ernest Stanley David Herman Brenda Patricia (née Yeoell)
NA11 SH22 NA01 NA01
© 2003 Revised October 2010
SECTION 2 Notes for the Churchyard Browser.
© 2003 Revised October 2010
NOTES FOR THE CHURCHYARD BROWSER If you are not looking for any particular grave, but are interested in churchyards and memorials in general, here are some interesting pointers. The oldest gravestone is that of Judith Harby who died in 1706. Grave Reference No. 145A The oldest person to be buried here was Sarah Theodorick who lived to the age of 103. Grave Reference Number 58. See illustration in Appendix B.
Listed Memorial to the Bygrave and Stone Families: Grave Reference No. 40. This is mentioned in Pevsner’s “Buildings of England”. Norfolk County Council Listing describes it as “Free standing monument over vault. 1796 – 1818. Brick faced with ashlar panels. 8 balls support rectangular chest, at the corners of which are engaged reeded columns. These have bases and capitals. In each of the four panels a circular inscription panel of black marble. On top of chest a pyramidal plinth carries an urn decorated with swags”. It has been overgrown with ivy for some years, and is currently on the “Listed monuments at risk” register, but we have included, in Appendix B, an illustration drawn from a photograph taken in the 1980s, so that something of its former glory can be appreciated. The Council for the Care of Churches has offered St. Mary’s a grant of £500 towards the cost of a Conservation Report on the Monument. The survey will be carried out in late 2003 by Dr. Carrington of the Skillington Workshop.
Decorations: Many decorations have religious connotations, but some are indicative of the life (or death) of the deceased. E.g. Grave Reference No. 10 The decoration incorporates lightning, as the man died on St. Swithin’s. A few memorial stones carry a beautiful carving of clasped hands, a man and woman’s, where the detail in the carving is still excellent. The button on the man’s shirt cuff shows, as do the manicured nails on the hands. E.g. Grave Reference No. 119. See illustration in Appendix B. Inscriptions: Some epitaphs are topical, and some very poignant. Many are religious in nature. Here are just a few examples worthy of interest. Grave Reference No. 146A refers to the age of the deceased. Grave Reference No. 310 refers to the craft of the deceased (blacksmith). Grave Reference Nos. 152, 165 & 299 refer to the manner of death. Grave Reference No. 309 refers to the end of suffering. Grave Reference Nos. 81 and 149 refer to the reader’s own mortality. Grave Reference No. 277 refers to consolation and the belief in eternal life. Grave Reference No. 242 refers to the loss of a young life. In the New Churchyard, you will find at Reference ND3, the grave of Roland Green, worldrenowned bird artist; at Reference SF2 the grave of Reverend Ian Leslie Hoyle, Vicar of St. Mary’s from 1982 until 1987; and at Reference SD25 the grave of Lt. Col. Robert Woodall Sankey, former warden of Hickling Broad Nature Reserve. © 2003 Revised October 2010
SECTION 3 A Brief History of St. Mary’s Churchyard.
© 2003 Revised October 2010
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST. MARY’S CHURCHYARD The English Country Churchyard has held a distinctive place in the rural life of this country for many centuries. Village churchyards are typically tranquil tracts of land surrounding the parish churches, which collectively are one of the great glories of the English scene. “Churchyards no less than the churches within them are an important part of local and national heritage,” (as the Diocese of Norwich Churchyard Regulations note). “They are often rich in historical, natural and artistic interest. The Church and Churchyard go together.” Whilst a place associated with the burial of the dead, the Churchyard stands within the midst of life, since marriage and baptismal parties, and all visitors to the Church, pass through it; and parish events, services and celebrations spill over into the Churchyard. St. Mary’s Churchyard has many characteristics, and much of the atmosphere, of the traditional English country churchyard. A Church has stood on this spot probably for more than a thousand years. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that Hickling had a “Church with 20 acres” at the time of the Norman Conquest, and it is likely that it had existed for long before then. The older (original) part of the Churchyard is of a shape common to many churchyards throughout the country: a rectangular piece of land surrounding the Church, with the southern side larger than northern side. St. Mary’s Churchyard is quite large, standing on a plot, with the Church, of about 2.5 acres. Given that perhaps at least five to ten burials on average may have taken place each year in the Village, no fewer than 5,000 to 10,000 people will have been buried in the Churchyard over the last thousand years. The existing gravestones in the original part of the Churchyard provide memorials to some 450 people, so that several thousand others must have been interred here without permanent memorials being raised. It was common for burials to take place, after a suitable elapsing of time, on plots that had already been used for burials in the past. Given the large number of people buried in Hickling Churchyard over the centuries no doubt this happened here. Old bones found during the digging of new graves would be stored in a charnel house. Although there are areas of the original Churchyard where no stones mark graves, that part of the Churchyard was no longer used for burials after 1932 when the extension to the Churchyard was opened and consecrated by the Bishop of Norwich. Burial Practice in the Middle Ages. A brief look at the history of burial practices may help us to envisage how the Churchyard may have been used in earlier times; and to explain why there is little sign of burials or memorials in the Church or Churchyard dating from before the seventeenth century. As there was a Church here before the Norman Conquest it is probable that Anglo-Saxon burials took place in the Churchyard; though we do not know when the first Anglo-Saxon Church was built, or when the local community at Hickling converted to Christianity. Originally in East Anglia cremation was the general rule among the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Cremation gradually was replaced by burial as Christianity spread through the country. © 2003 Revised October 2010
Burial practice in the Middle Ages has been said to have been affected by three main factors: the understanding of Purgatory in the twelfth century; the Black Death in the fourteenth century, and the Reformation in the sixteenth. While there has been careful attention to burial and reverence to the deceased for many centuries, there seems in earlier times to have been an absence of over-formality, and a concern simply to dispose of the dead. Until the twelfth century it might broadly be said that, on death, it was believed that the souls of the departed would be saved or damned, depending upon the way their lives had been lived on earth. In the twelfth century Purgatory became popularly established. It was clearly defined for the first time in 1254 by Pope Innocent IV, being the concept of purification and intercession between death and the soul reaching Heaven. Masses were said for the dead and chantries for this purpose were endowed from the late twelfth century. Pilgrimages and other pious practices offered the opportunity for indulgences to support the eventual passage of the soul to heaven. Memorials and tombs kept the names of the departed in view and encouraged prayer for them. Great misfortunes, including the Black Death, would have imposed a great burden on local communities. The burial of large numbers of people would have affected burial practice; and there must have been both a sense of panic and of the need to arrange very hurried funerals, perhaps requiring mass graves or ‘plague pits’. In Hickling there were a number of such disasters. particularly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, which are briefly described later in this narrative. At the Reformation the Protestant reformers opposed the idea of Purgatory. Christ alone could save – prayers, alms and other traditional means towards salvation were of no consequence. Thus chantries and the monasteries offering constant prayer were of no value. The Reformation became manifest in England under Henry VIII, at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. Purgatory was ‘abolished’ in England by the King’s Book in 1543. In 1550, throughout the country, preReformation tombs were ordered to be destroyed. However the destruction of the tombs of the aristocracy presented something of a threat to the social and political order, and a royal proclamation in 1563 relaxed the earlier instructions, though by then much damage had been done. We can only speculate why we have no pre-Reformation memorials in St. Mary’s Church, excepting the thirteenth century sepulchral slab to Rosa, near the pulpit, which was found in 1875 under the Church floor, where it may have been hidden from the zeal of the reformers. By the Middle Ages the orientation of graves had become consistent: the heads pointed west, the feet east. Christ would appear from the east on Judgement Day, the cross at Calvary faced west so that those looking at Christ on the cross faced east. It is normally understood that the inscribed side of the gravestone faces east also. This is so in the new extension of Hickling Churchyard, though in the original Churchyard most of the inscriptions face west, “This is the old and Norfolk way.” Some Medieval Disasters. The years when the greatest number of deaths occurred in Hickling would have been in the disastrous years of the floods in 1287 and the plague in 1349. As quoted in the Victoria County History (Norfolk Vol. II): “Hickling was one of the townships that suffered © 2003 Revised October 2010
most severely from the tremendous storm of December 1287, with no fewer than nine score persons being drowned there. In the priory the water rose more than a foot above the high altar, and all the canons fled away except two, who stayed behind and managed to save the horses and other property by bringing them up into the dormitory over the vaulted undercroft.” Later a great “disaster befell the priory in 1349, when the prior, Richard, died of the plague, as did his elected successor, Simon Wodewale, who passed away even as the brethren were informing him of his election. Such havoc did the pestilence work that only two canons were left alive, one of whom, John, became prior, though only a novice and not yet professed. Another epidemic in 1439 visited Hickling and carried off three or four of the brethren.” Between 1430 and 1480 there were eighteen years of national epidemics in England; London being affected during twenty seven years in this period. The most serious outbreak of disease in Hickling at this time seems to have been the one in 1439. It is not known how many of the 180 people (“nine score persons”) reported drowned in 1287 were buried in the Churchyard, or precisely how many died during the Black Death, which swept across Europe from the east, and decimated the population of Norfolk between the spring and autumn of 1349, and in later years of disease. It has been suggested that half the population of East Anglia died in the 1349 epidemic, which may mean that 200 or so died at Hickling. Whilst the brethren of the priory would no doubt have been buried in the priory grounds, it is presumed that the dead of the population at large would have been buried either in the Churchyard, probably on the north side of the Church, or perhaps in a more remote spot away from human habitation. The scenes of desperation and hardship that accompanied these deaths and interments can only be imagined. After the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 the Hickling Priory lands (the Priory had been founded in 1185) were granted to Sir William Wodehouse in 1542. His decorated chest tomb stands at the east end of the north aisle, its top with much graffiti apparently from the Cromwellian era in the seventeenth century. Burials inside churches, from as early as the Council of Mainz in AD 811, were confined mainly to bishops, abbots and other worthies including royalty. These restrictions were gradually relaxed over time. However no memorials or furnishings from the Roman Catholic past of the Church remain, excepting the fourteenth century font and the thirteenth century sepulchral slab already mentioned. We have noted that pre-Reformation tombs were ordered to be destroyed in 1550, and we do not know what, if any, memorials might have then stood in the Church – or Priory – before then. In 1538, soon after the Dissolution of the monasteries, Thomas Cromwell, in his capacity of Vicar General required that every parish should keep a register of baptisms, marriages and burials; the entries being made by the incumbent each Sunday after service, in the presence of one of the wardens. In Norfolk 452 parish registers survive from the sixteenth century, and 59 – including those from Hickling – exist from the seventeenth century: in Hickling’s case from 1653. Except for the current registers the originals have all been deposited at the Norfolk Record Office and, as at 2002, microfilm copies of the Hickling records were available up to 1901. The Record Office also holds the Archdeacon’s and Bishop’s Transcripts from 1698 to 1887. These transcripts are copies © 2003 Revised October 2010
of the entries from the parish registers sent to the bishop or archdeacon, and signed by the incumbent and the churchwardens. Many of the earlier registers for Hickling are difficult to read. It would be a most useful and interesting project for the Hickling Local History Group and/or the Parochial Church Council to transcribe and index the early registers of the parish. Initially there was no standard of entry prescribed, until Rose’s Act of 1812, and the style of registers varies widely. Before 1752 (when there was a change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar), it was customary to begin the year’s register at Lady Day, 25 March, so that entries for each year continue beyond 31 December. For many of the people whose burials are recorded in the early parish registers there are no memorials to be seen. The earliest memorial in the Church - other than the thirteenth century sepulchral slab to Rosa, and the Wodehouse tomb (Sir William Wodehouse died in 1571) - is the seventeenth century Calthrop (Calthorpe) memorial in the chancel, commemorating John Calthrop who died in 1688. In the Churchyard the earliest tombstone is to Judith Harby who died in 1706. Memorials in the Church and Churchyard from the Seventeenth Century. All of the accessible memorials and gravestones in the Church and Churchyard are recorded in the Churchyard Survey that has been painstakingly carried out by members of the Hickling Local History Group in 2002/2003. This is a major work, and is being presented to the Parochial Church Council at St. Mary’s Church on 14 December 2003. It revises and builds upon the Churchyard Record, restricted to the older part of the Churchyard, carried out by the Hickling Women’s Institute in 1980. The Village War Memorials bearing the names of those who died in the two World Wars, 19141918 and 1939-1945, are on the wall of the north aisle of the Church. A memorial service is held each year on Armistice Day, 11 November, or the preceding Sunday, to remember those who died in these and other wars. We do not know how many Hickling men may have fought and died in earlier wars, perhaps at Agincourt or one of the numerous land or sea conflicts in British history. It will be noted that the First World War memorial in the Church carries the dates 1914-1919; perhaps in recognition of the tombstone to Gunner Lamb, in the Churchyard, which shows the date of his death on 29th March 1919. This memorial also has the name of Hickling blanked out, an action understood to have been carried out at the beginning of the Second World War, (when milestones and road-signs were widely removed to confuse an enemy). Many who died in the wars are buried or commemorated elsewhere, and each name on the War Memorials no doubt carries a poignant story. The Commonwealth (formerly the Imperial) War Graves Commission has duties “to mark and maintain the graves of the members of the forces of the Commonwealth who died in the two world wars, to build and maintain memorials to the dead whose graves are unknown, and to keep records and registers.” Information obtained from the Commission is given here in the order that the names appear on the War Memorials in the Church.
World War I © 2003 Revised October 2010
HERBERT SMITH. Vere, 2nd Lieut. 3rd Bn. Rifle Brigade, 22nd March 1915. Age 22. Son of Norman and Christine L. Herbert Smith, of 107, Ashley Gardens, Westminster, London. (At La Chappelle-d’Armentieres Old Military Cemetery, Nord, France). GIBBS Wilfred, A.B. S.S. Indian Monarch. (This information not recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) Born 1888, died 1915, son of Robert William Gibbs and Elizabeth Gibbs (née Chapman), of Stubb Road, Hickling. Pte. Flowerday BELL. 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment. 21st May 1915. Age 34. Son of the late John and Marie Bell; husband of Jessie Warnes (formerly Bell) of Council Cottages, Hickling. (At Ypres – Menin Gate – Memorial, Ieper, West Vlaanderen). GIBBS, Lance Corporal, Edward. Ist Bn. Essex Regiment. 13th August, 1915. Age 20. Son of Edward and Edith Gibbs of Hickling. (At Helles Memorial, Turkey). DYBALL, Pte. Frederick, Essex Regiment, formerly Norfolk Regiment, Lost at sea. 13th August, 1916. (At Helles Memorial, Turkey). WRIGHT, Pte. William Walter, 9th Bn. Norfolk Regiment. 18th Sept. 1918. (At Brie British Cemetery, Somme, France). Petty Officer Hezekiah William CHAPMAN. HMS “Pembroke”, Royal Navy. Died as a result of an accident at sea on board HMS “Liffey”. 5th July 1916. Age 34. Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. Son of Jethro Chapman, of Hickling; husband of Emma Phoebe Macdonald (formerly Chapman) of Great Yarmouth. (At Great Yarmouth New Cemetery). DEFEW, Private F. 1st Bn. Machine Gun Corps (Inf.). 2nd August 1916. (At. St. Mary’s Churchyard, Hickling). Pte. A NUDD. 1st Bn. Norfolk Regiment. Killed in action 4th September 1916. Age 21. Son of John and Ellen Nudd, of Hickling. (At Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme). GIBBS, Lance Corporal William George Kerrison, 1st Bn. Essex Regiment, formerly Norfolk Regiment. 20th October 1916. (At Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-l’Abbe, Somme, France. Deck Hand Herbert Henry PRATT. HM Drifter “Launch Out”. Royal Naval Reserve. Killed in action with TBDs in Straits of Dover 26th October 1916. Age 24. Son of William and Ann Eliza Pratt, of Hickling. (At Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent). MASON, Deck Hand Otto Cecil, H. M. Trawler “Sisters Melville”, Royal Naval Reserve. Killed by mine explosion near Aldeburgh 13th Feb., 1917. (At Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent). LAMBERT, Arthur (Albert) Henry, 2nd R.M. Bn. R.N. Division, Royal Marine Light Infantry. 25th February, 1917. (At Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France).
© 2003 Revised October 2010
Pte. H. F. MILLS. 7th Bn. The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment). 30th September 1916. Age 23. Son of Mrs E J Linkhorn, of Stubb Rd., Hickling. (At Blighty Valley Cemetery, Authuile Wood, Somme). 2nd Lt. Harry Norton FOX. 1st Bn. Norfolk Regiment. 23rd April 1917. Age 23. Son of Josiah and Frances Fox, of Town Street, Hickling. (At Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais). BECKETT, Leading Signalman Harold Oxley, “H.M.S. Derwent”, Royal Navy. Killed by mine explosion in English Channel 2nd May 1917. (At Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent). Pte. George Robert CHASE. 13th Bn. Essex Regiment. 13th November 1916. Age 23. Son of Charles and Sarah Chase, of Hickling. (At Thiepval Memorial, Somme). Pte. Charles DURRANT. 1st Bn. Essex Regiment. 14th April 1917. Age 29, Son of Frederick and Mary Ann Durrant, of Hickling. (At Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais). NUDD Leading Deck Hand, Robert Thomas, 12/SD. H.M.S. Victory, Royal Naval Reserve. 31st January 1918. Age 23. Son of Thomas Nudd, of Stubb Mill, Hickling. (At St. Mary’s Churchyard). Cpl. Clarence Orlando Bernard BEALES. 7th Bn. Norfolk Regiment. Killed in action 9th March 1918. Age 22. Son of the late Albert and Jane Beales, of Hickling; husband of Elizabeth F.M. Beales, of Deal. (At Anzac Cemetery, Sailly-Sur-La-Lys, Pas de Calais). GIBBS, Stoker 2nd Class, W. J., H.M.S. Pembroke. Royal Navy, 20th April 1918. Age 18. Son of John and Elizabeth Gibbs, of The Green, Hickling. (At St. Mary’s Churchyard, Hickling). 2nd Lt. J.J. FOX. 12th Norfolk Yeo. Bn., Norfolk Regiment. 11th September 1918. Age 23, son of Peter and Thirza Fox of Hickling; husband of Emma Elizabeth Fox of Broad View, Hickling. (At Strand Military Cemetery, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut). TURNER, Private, Arthur Victor, 1st Bn., Northamptonshire Regiment. 10th July 1917. Age 23. Son of Richard Frank and Emma Marie Turner, of Hickling. (At Nieuport Memorial, Nieuwpoort, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium). 2nd Hand Roland Charles DURRANT. HM Drifter “Breadwinner”, Royal Naval Reserve. 29th October 1918. Age 23. Son of Charles and Caroline Mary Durrant, of Sunflower Cottage, Stubb Road, Hickling. (At Belfast City Cemetery, County Antrim). LAMB, Gunner, Angus Henry. 2nd Reserve Bde. Royal Garrison Artillery. 29th March 1919. (At. St. Mary’s Churchyard, Hickling).
© 2003 Revised October 2010
World War II Pte. Walter James AMIS, Pioneer Corps. 17th October, 1945, aged 29. Son of Walter Robert and Ada Harriett Amis, husband of Joyce Dorothy Amis, of Ridlington, Norfolk. (At Celle War Cemetery, Celle, Niedersachsen, Germany). Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Ambrose Arthur CHAPMAN, 111 Squadron, Royal Air Force. 25th March, 1945. (At Padua War Cemetery, Italy). Flt. Lieutenant (Nav./Radar) Philip Allan DISNEY, 23 Sqdn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Son of Alec Robert and Margaret Disney, of Ingham, Norfolk. 22nd March 1945, aged 23. (At Reichswald Forest War cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein, Westfalen, Germany. Pte. Clarence Victor GOLEBY. 4th Bn. Royal Norfolk Regiment. 4th June 1943. Age 23. Son of Ruby Goleby, of Hickling; Nephew of Arthur C Goleby, of Hickling. (At Chungkai War Cemetery). Sgt. Bryan Waldo LAMBERT. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 22nd September 1943. Age 20. Son of Benjamin W. Lambert and Ruby V. Lambert of Hickling. (At Truro – Terrace Hill – Cemetery, Nova Scotia, Canada). Pte. William MYHILL. 6th Bn. Norfolk Regiment. 3rd January 1944. Age 27. Son of William James Howard Myhill and Jane Priscilla Howard Myhill, of Hickling. (At Chungkai War Cemetery). Ordinary Seaman John William NEWMAN. H.M.S. “Welshman”, Royal Navy. 1st February 1943. Age 20. Son of Ernest M. and Nellie M. Newman, of Hickling. (At Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent). Able Seaman George Edward NUDD. MV Harboe Jenson, Royal Navy. 15th January 1943. Age 31. Son of Abner and Ethel H. Z. Nudd, of Hickling. (At Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent). Pte. Hubert Lawrence TUCK. 1st Bn. East Surrey Regiment. 1st December 1943. Age 24. Son of Hubert George and May Violet Tuck, of Hickling. (At Sangro River War Cemetery). In addition to the names mentioned on the War Memorials in the church, the following men, who have associations with Hickling, are listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as casualties of war: Gunner C E REYNOLDS. 7th Siege Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery. 21st June 1918. Brother of Mrs Sarah Ann Gibbs, of Stubb Road, Hickling. (At Longuenesse - St. Omer - Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais.) 3rd Hand Charles Henry NUDD. Steam Trawler “Fawn” (Grimsby), Mercantile Marine. Presumed drowned. 24th August 1919. Age 36. Son of Joshua and Charity Nudd, of Stubb Road, Hickling. (At Tower Hill Memorial, London.)
© 2003 Revised October 2010
Cook Arthur Elijah TUNGATE. Steam Trawler “Sabrina” (Hull), Mercantile Marine. Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine. 20th May 1915. Age 54. Son of the late George and Sarah Tungate; husband of Emmeline Tungate (née Nudd), of Hull. Born at Hickling. (At Tower Hill Memorial, London.) FINDLAY, Serjeant, James, 369 Bty., 113 (2/5 Bn. The Durham Light Infantry) Lt. A. A. Regt. Royal Artillery, 11th July, 1944. Age 22. Son of James and Helen Findlay, husband of Winifred Joan Findlay, of Hickling, Norfolk. (At. Hermanville War Cemetery, Calvados.) Funerals. We have looked very briefly at burial practices and the thought surrounding them in the Middle Ages. These few further words about funerals and burial in Hickling are simply notes on a subject that could be treated at greater length. Through history the dead would have been prepared for burial and wrapped in some form of shroud before being borne to the Church. Included in burial records for 1681-1685, deposited in the Norfolk Record Office, are “affidavits for burials in woollen”. In 1666 and 1678 acts were passed (repealed in 1814) requiring all corpses (except those that died of the plague) to be buried wrapped in cloth made of pure sheep’s wool. “Affidavits of Burial in Woollen must be delivered in to the Minister of the Parish where the deceased was buried, in eight days from the time of burial, on pain of Penalty of Five Pounds for neglect thereof.” Bodies would be carried, either on the shoulders of family, friends and neighbours, or on some form of conveyance such as cart, or later a hearse. The parish of Hickling is large, and from Stubb, Heath, Whinmere, or Hickling Green, the funeral procession would have taken sometimes quite a long route, following the roads, lanes and footpaths. It is said that the footpath running from behind the present Hickling Stores to Eastfield Road – and then on to the Church – was known as the ‘coffin path’, or perhaps earlier the “corpse path”, as coffins were not widely used except by the more affluent until the eighteenth century. The family and neighbours would for centuries, with the parish priest or Vicar, have dealt with the funeral arrangements themselves, until specialist undertakers took over much of the role. In Hickling there was, from the first half of the twentieth century, an undertakers business at Holly House in Stubb Road, run by Edward Myhill, who died in 1928. Haylett Brindid, who worked for Edward Myhill, then took over the firm, moving to premises at Doves Corner, where the work was carried on as ‘Brindid and Durrant, Carpenters and Undertakers.’ In due course the undertakers’ activity was sold to Corks at North Walsham. The coffin drapes and other materials used locally by the undertakers businesses for funerals are now deposited at Sutton Windmill Museum. Those who have seen graves newly dug in the Churchyard will have observed that there is but a shallow layer of top-soil before sand is reached. Reconstructed maps of the coast-line in Roman times show the point where Hickling Church stands to be directly on the coast, which partly explains the presence of sand. Under a hedge between the old and new Churchyard areas is a coffin-like ‘shape’, made of wood, which was used during the hand-digging of graves to consolidate the sides of the grave.
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In the first decades of the twentieth century, (the precise year of its purchase has not yet been established), a Village Hearse was acquired: a finely polished, hand-propelled vehicle on which the coffin was placed, draped and taken in procession to the Church. It is understood that the hearse was purchased from Norwich, and that a party of Village men undertook the major excursion of going to the city and wheeling it the twenty miles journey from Norwich to Hickling. It is said that the hearse was kept in the Church, and later in the stables of the Vicarage opposite the Church. When the Vicarage was sold, by the Church Commissioners, there was a proposal to build a shed for storing the hearse on what is now the parking field by the Church. This plan did not materialise and the hearse was stored at the recreation field at Ouse Lane until it was taken away for safekeeping and restoration. Arrangements are currently, (November 2003), being made between the Parish Council and the Parochial Church Council for it once again to be housed in the Church. Burials now are confined to the new Churchyard. For the interment the hearse travels along the wide grass path on the southern edge of the Churchyard, turning north to enter the new Churchyard by the opening opposite the east end of the Church. We have not here touched upon the history of the burial service, and only quote briefly, at this appropriate point, from the Book of Common Prayer - “Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the body by some standing by, the Priest shall say: Forasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother/sister here departed, we therefore commit his/her body to the ground…..” The use of St. Mary’s Churchyard for cremated remains largely stems from 1989, following discussions after the Parish Council had minuted that “a number of parishioners has enquired if a Rose Garden could be allocated in memory of their late relatives.” An area at the western end of the Churchyard was reserved, where the general memorial and individual stones are located. In some instances cremated remains have been interred in the graves of relatives in the Churchyard. Other former residents of the parish who have been cremated have had their ashes scattered elsewhere. In the case of Jim Vincent (d.1944) the celebrated ornithologist and keeper of the Nature Reserve - who lived at Keeper’s Cottage, the garden of which is adjacent to the Churchyard – the ashes are understood to have been scattered on Hickling Broad. The parking field (1.85 acres) by the Church was established on the initiative of the Parish Council in 1994/1995. The Parish Council Minutes note a suggestion that part of the field should be left for hay: “which could be sold for £40/£50…[the] Chairman also felt that in future years when a new piece of land will be needed for burial purposes, the Council could possibly have a Council Cemetery…” Care of the Churchyard. “Under the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 the duty to care for and maintain the churchyard is laid upon the Parochial Church Council (PCC) which has all the powers necessary for that purpose” (Diocese of Norwich Churchyard Regulations, October 2002). These regulations, together with Diocesan advice on the care of unsafe memorials, are displayed in the Church porch. The Churchyard has had periods of close attention and comparative neglect over its long history. In the twentieth century the ground had evidently fallen into some disarray by 1965 when, according to a press report in August of that year, “no-one knows when” the Churchyard had last been cleared. © 2003 Revised October 2010
The report records that a parish maintenance committee had been formed, comprising the Vicar, (the Rev. S. J. Noel Henderson, who had arrived in the parish only three months before, from Eastbourne), churchwardens and three members each selected by the Parish Council and the Methodist Church. At the beginning of August 1965 a party of 24 Swedish and 10 British students worked to give the Churchyard a facelift. “Already they have uncovered a long tapering stone similar in shape, size and some of its markings to one in the Church, which is believed to be 700 years old.” The stone in the Church mentioned must be the thirteenth century sepulchral slab commemorating Rosa. Where is the stone found by the students in 1965? For a number of years following this, the Churchyard was looked after as a cooperative effort between the Parish Council and the Parochial Church Council; though now the main role of the Parish Council is to attend to grass cutting in the Churchyard and the parking area. A Churchyard & Burial Ground Field Survey at St. Mary’s was carried out in February 2001, and made a number of interesting observations for improvement of the Churchyard. .In December 2001 the “Hickling News Sheet” noted: “If you have visited recently you will have seen the new easily opened entrance gates which, along with the new porch gates, we have been able to acquire as a result of generous bequests and donations.” Hickling won the Best Kept Churchyard competition in 1980 and again in 1981, when the village also won the Best Kept Village competition. These were halcyon days! Some eighty years earlier also there had been a major initiative to tend to the Churchyard. In the ‘Waxham and Happing Rural Deanery Magazine’ for May 1897 the Vicar, the Rev. Arthur A. T. Crosse (Vicar 1889-1921) writes: “It has been suggested that as a permanent memorial to the Jubilee (Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee) an effort should be made to put the Churchyard and wall in thorough order. I shall place £5 to the Fund in the first instance, which was the sum originally intended to be given to this object some years ago, and I have already received offers of more than £20, and a promise of a new gate from the Churchyard to the Church Farm field. The Squire of the Parish is to be approached on the subject…..The repair of the Churchyard wall is a duty which legally devolves on the parish. And it should be a labour of love to ensure the privacy and protection of the hallowed place where the loved dead lie at rest.” Older parishioners remember the kissing gate that stood at the north-west corner of the Churchyard. The gate was on the line of the official definitive footpath which still runs through the Churchyard and on the field towards Hickling Hall. This has not been maintained in recent years, and walkers tend to use an opening near the cremation memorial area leading to the farm track behind Church Farm house. The Churchyard wall is also of great interest, a wall probably having enclosed this land for a thousand years or more. The stretch along the northern side of the Churchyard, thought to be of medieval origin is the main remaining part of this ancient wall. Stones from here were used to make the base of the Village Sign in the 1970s; but the wall is much overgrown by foliage and in danger of falling into decay. In November 2002 three small yew saplings were planted in the Churchyard, to mark the new Millennium. They had been propagated, it is understood, from ancient yews, being brought to Hickling from Norwich Cathedral in Millennium Year, 2000, and nurtured in a conservatory in the © 2003 Revised October 2010
Village until ready for transplanting. Yews are capable of living for many centuries, and these three trees may still be in place in the Churchyard at the beginning of the next Millennium. St. Mary’s Churchyard remains a rural place, and it is hoped that it will receive the sensitive care that will retain and enhance the historical, natural and artistic qualities that exist in this country churchyard. The Diocese of Norwich (Churchyard Regulations) has drawn attention to the importance of our churchyards, and notes that “preservation of their particular character and beauty in the local environment is vital”. This is surely a view that the people of Hickling would strongly endorse. Acknowledgements The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Death and burial in medieval England, 1066-1550 by Christopher Daniell, 1997. Diocese of Norwich Churchyard Regulations, 2002 (in the Church porch). The Parish Chest, by W. E. Tate. 1969. Victoria History of the Counties of England. Norfolk Vol.II. 1906. Waxham and Happing Rural Deanery Magazine. 1897.
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SECTION 4 Story of the Survey.
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THE STORY OF THE SURVEY For future historical reference, (as we are a History Group) it seems fitting to add a few words about how we conducted the survey, and to show a few photographs of the team at work. The first thing to stress is how much we all enjoyed the work. We met at the churchyard every Tuesday afternoon in fine weather, from May 2002 until November 2002, and from April 2003 until July 2003. Fine weather did not always mean warm weather, but nevertheless our enthusiasm was not lessened. We had with us a photocopy of the Women’s Institute’s Survey of 1980, and the old plan, drawn by Commander Barlow for them, and we set out firstly to check every one of the inscriptions in the old churchyard. Following the pattern set by the W.I., we have described the monument shapes and decorations, as well as recording the inscriptions, therefore we have obtained illustrations of standard designs of monuments. Those shown in brochures given to us by Nick Hindle (stonemason) and others in “Recording and Analysing Graveyards” by Harold Mytum, were redrawn by Tony Cornwell in one document for ease of use. (See Appendix A). Many monuments differ from the standard, and their shapes are differently named in various stonemasons’ brochures. Whilst we did appreciate the many variations in design of the individual monuments, describing them was one of the most difficult aspects of the survey. Much time was spent in trying to read previously unrecorded inscriptions, with some success. Many new names were added to the register. One whole afternoon was devoted to the Fabb family tomb which is located outside the main South entrance to the church, and we all felt it was an afternoon well spent. The tomb is over two hundred years old; the inscription is only partially readable now, and may disappear altogether during this century. At last we have recorded the names and dates of death of Richard and his wife Elizabeth. Another afternoon was spent in deciphering the verse on John Sizer’s headstone. He was a blacksmith, and his inscription is topical and interesting. Two of our team, Janet Amis and Pauline Brooks, were born in Hickling, and have always lived in the village, so they were able to tell us much of the history of the families buried here. Members of the team visited the Norfolk Record Office in Norwich to try to identify names which were elusively illegible on the monuments, with some, but not total success. Unfortunately some of the old Burial Registers at the Norfolk Record Office are now illegible, and may even be incomplete. On a very sunny afternoon in April 2003, with the Vicar’s permission, we cleared the ivy from some of the tombs in the old churchyard. The photographs (See Appendix C) show how thick was the mat on top of the tombs, and how it rolled away, revealing the decoration and the inscriptions. We learned from each other and from Hickling residents who frequently spoke to us in the churchyard, a little about burial customs, about family names and about the prominence of some families in Hickling. From the burial plan in the New Churchyard we can see that still-born and new-born babies used to be buried at the outer edge of the burial ground. If the babies had not been christened, then the undertaker would sometimes perform the burial. Vicars dying whilst incumbent were allowed to start a new row in the burial ground as in the case of the Reverend Ian Hoyle. Some wonderful names, long since fallen out of favour, provoked discussion amongst us. Everyone will be able to conjure up the joy with which “Welcome John Watts” was received into the world. The Howards and the Myhills intermarried frequently and we would dearly love to see the intertwined family trees. Whilst trying to determine the surname of some of those buried here, it became © 2003 Revised October 2010
apparent that, often, ladies who married took their maiden name with them into the new family, keeping it in use as another forename. Thus forenames like Howard and Myhill and Neal appear. The children then also carried this maiden name as a forename. The most often-found name in the combined churchyards is Gibbs, a family well represented in Hickling today. Other families with many generations buried at St. Mary’s are the Nudds, Beales, Myhills, Chapmans, Turners, and Lamberts. St. Mary’s church and churchyard (certainly on Tuesday afternoons) is a peaceful, friendly, and much visited place. Our team never spent an afternoon without meeting someone visiting a grave, or just looking around the church. Often we could help someone to locate a grave, which makes this whole project very worthwhile, and we loved talking to the visitors, some of whom had come many miles to visit St. Mary’s. Disappointingly, we never managed to get all eight members of the team at the churchyard on the same day. After the first physical survey, proof copies of the new plans and the new registers were printed out, and the team revisited each grave, checking all the information, and amending as necessary. The inscriptions on the memorials inside the church and on the sundial over the porch were also carefully recorded. Our last day at the Churchyard was 15th July, 2003, (St. Swithin’s Day). It seems appropriate to mention here that one of the monuments (Grave Reference Number 10) commemorates “Press Turner, died on St. Swithin’s”, and an illustration can be found in Appendix B. We are very fortunate that the Group has many talented artists, and two of them have contributed drawings to illustrate some of the interesting monuments – Nigel Moody and Peter Brown. Our aim in carrying out this survey is to record, for posterity, inscriptions which may disappear in time from the churchyard. The alphabetical registers and plans will make it easy for parishioners, family, and visitors to find individual graves. The records will be kept up to date, and displayed in the church and in the Hickling Local History Group’s Archive Room at the Community Hall, for all to see. THANKS Our thanks go to Reverend Neville Khambatta, who gave us access to the original New Churchyard Burial Plan and to the Burial Register, and permission to remove ivy etc. from some overgrown memorials so that we could read the inscriptions. Thanks also to Julia Morris, who gave us access to the PCC minutes in order to research references to the churchyard. Thanks to Nick Hindle of R. Payne & Son, Stonemasons of North Walsham, who provided the team with illustrations of headstones, kerbs and corner posts, so that we could identify these as accurately as possible. The drawing© of the churchyard which is used for the covers is by Brian Prescott, of Blackburn, Lancashire, who visited the church in 1994.
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APPENDIX “A” Monument shapes.
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Monument Shapes The identification and naming of monument shapes proved to be a difficult task. Brochures obtained from different stonemasons will give alternative names to the same shape. There are also very individually designed monuments, which do not fit any standard description. Taking into consideration brochures supplied by Nick Hindle of R. Payne & Son, Stonemasons of North Walsham, and the drawings by Joanna Richardson in “Recording and Analysing Graveyards”, published by the Council for British Archaeology, the following shapes commonly found in St. Mary’s Churchyard, were drawn for the team by Tony Cornwell. Where there is more than one name in common usage for them, the alternative names are given.
Cremation Ledgers
Chest Tomb with plain sides
Simple Latin Cross
Ledger
Low Monument with flat top
Chest Tomb with panelled sides
Gothic Cross
Celtic / Ringed Cross
Coffin Tomb
Cross with expanded terminals (Maltese Cross)
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Norman / Round Top
Gothic Pointed Top
Curved / Camber Top
Ogee or Sinuous Top
Trefoil Top
Flat Top with semicircular feature
Square/Flat Top with slightly curved central feature
Asymmetrical Top
Pedimented Top
Square/Flat Top with triangular (Peon) central feature
Triangular Top (Peon)
Stepped Triangular (Peon) Top
Square/Flat Top with quarter circular shoulders
Square/Flat Top with semicircular shoulders
Square/Flat Top with square shoulders
Square/Flat Top with concave / Scotia shoulders
Square/Flat Top with convex shoulders
Square/Flat Top with angled shoulders
Square/Flat Top with stepped shoulders
Asymmetrical Top with stepped shoulder
Plain Kerbs
Plain Square
Triangular or Peon
Kerbs with corner posts
Check Top
Gothic Top Revised October 2010
Kerbs with three posts each side
Chamfer Top
Internal Mitre
Camber Top © 2003
APPENDIX “B” Drawings of Memorials.
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The BYGRAVE & STONE MEMORIAL Drawing by Peter Brown From a Photograph Plot Ref: 40
© Hickling Local History Group © 2003
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Memorial to SARAH THEODORICK Drawing by Nigel Moody Plot Ref: 58
© Hickling Local History Group © 2003
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Memorial to PRESS TURNER Drawing by Nigel Moody Plot Ref: 10 Revised October 2010
© Hickling Local History Group © 2003
Memorial to JOHN LAMBERT Drawing by Nigel Moody Plot Ref: 119
© Hickling Local History Group © 2003
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APPENDIX “C” Photographs.
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New Churchyard Two teams at work September 2002
New Churchyard Janet – Helen – Shirley (Left to Right) September 2002
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New Churchyard Recording “Cecil Douglas Moody” September 2002
New Churchyard Recording “Dorothy Mary Bishop” Standing: Shirley – Merrie – Kath – Janet – Pauline, Kneeling: Val and Helen September 2002
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New Churchyard Val – Kath - Pauline September 2002
New Churchyard Recording “Daisy Althea & Oliver William Beales” September 2002
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Old Churchyard Cutting away the Ivy March 2003
Old Churchyard Removing the Mat of Ivy March 2003
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Old Churchyard Off to the Bonfire… March 2003
Old Churchyard “Margaret Mack” revealed March 2003
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