The churchyard gives us a reminder of past lives, biographies and social history. Historically in England and Wales no-one has a local responsibility to provide burial space, it has always been ‘permissive.’ It was only from the tenth century that land surrounding the Church was consecrated.

After the Reformation, the Church of England and Church in Wales, as a Protestant Church, did not believe that burial in consecrated ground was necessary to the ultimate destiny of the soul. But consecrating space was still a way of ‘dedicating’ that space to God and placing that ground under Church ownership and control.

The Burial Law Amendment Act 1880 meant that burial could not be refused to Nonconformists, and that ministers of other denominations could be permitted to take burial services in Anglican Churchyards. Churchyard extensions were commonplace, made easier through a change of law in 1867 which meant that anyone donating an acre to the Churchyard could keep a sixth of the extension for their own family burial.

At St Mary’s once the area around the Church became overcrowded an addition of 1,880 square yards was added to it in 1890, given by William Jessop, Esq the local estate owner at the time. A further addition was made by deed of gift from William Richard Prince-Smith Bt. on 18th October 1974 to the west of the main churchyard.