Above
is a churchyard plan of the Church of St Mary The
Virgin Ashby St Mary for illustration purposes.
(clicK
HERE
for a full screen size of the whole churchyard)
ASHBY
CHURCHYARD
Ashby St Mary Church and Churchyard : Co-ordinates
- Lat. N 52:34:04 Long. E 01:26:34
The churchyard is dominated by the utilitarian concrete
war memorial on the west side as you approach the
porch which lists the parish dead of two world wars.
The tombstones of
George and Ann Basey are situated immediately on
the east side of the footpath as you approach the
porch and have attracted considerable publicity
over the last 25 or 30 years. George (who
died in 1876) and his wife Ann (who died in 1868)
are shown surrounded by their flocks of geese and
turkeys, reminding us of the fact that in that century
and earlier, these birds were bred in Norfolk in
great quantities. East Anglia holds the credit for
the domestication of the goose. In the late autumn
before Christmas, whole droves of geese and turkeys
could be seen waddling slowly and noisily along
the roads to London and the Smithfield market. The
flocks could make about 10 miles a day, guided by
drovers who were skilled men who had to ensure their
arrival in good condition. Apparently nothing could
equal these Norfolk reared birds on the London Market
where they commanded higher prices for the table
than those bred in other parts of England.
The sequel to this story is that an image of Ann
Basey and her geese has now been incorporated into
the village sign.
(With acknowledgement to parishioner
Arnold Miller)
CHURCHYARD CONTENTS
- The churchyard is dominated by the utilitarian
concrete war memorial on the left hand side as you
approach the porch which lists the dead of the village
in two world wars.
1914 to 1918 - Earnest W Bush / H Victor Chambers
/ William E Starman
1939 to 1945 - John Stanley Cotton
- At the rear of the church is a gravestone and
flowering cherry tree planted as a memorial to Bridget
Evelyn Gray 1915 to 1997 (wife of Peter Gray).
- The names of families
whose past relatives are easily identifiable from
gravestones/monuments as buried in Ashby St Mary
churchyard include:-
Alden, Arden, Bacon, Basey, Basey Fisher, Bate,
Bayne, Beddingfield, Begbie, Blake, Blazer, Bullett,
Calthorpe, Carver, Catchpole, Chamberlain, Chapman,
Chubbock, Claxton, Cone, Cotton, Cumby, Daines,
Danbee, Dell, Farrell, Fharaoh, Flint, Forder, Frost,
Garrod, Gilbert, Godfrey, Gray, Hammond, Harwood,
Headden, Hill, Hoddy, Howe, Hurrell, Johnson, Langley,
Marshall, Mayes, Osbourne, Read, Riches, Rudrum,
Rushmore, Sandys, Shreeve, Smith, Starling, Stockings,
Tabor, Taylor, Thurtell, Todd, Veasey, Ward, Whiles,
Whitmarsh, Wickham, Willcox, Wilson
- Other family names
known to be buried in this churchyard as listed
in the Burial register after 1813 include:-
Ardley, Baker, Beales, Bell, Bennett, Bracey, Bracy,
Brereton, Brook, Brookes, Brown, Browne, Bultitude,
Burroughs, Colsey, Crome, Cobb, Coleman, Colman,
Cossey, Crickmore, Davey, Davy, Day, Delph, Dennis,
Edwards, Elliot, Ellis, Fharaoh, Field, Frosdick,
Fisher, Fisk, Gage, Gedge, Gunn, Gunton, Gurry,
Guurys, Halliday, Harper, Heazle, Hindley, Hood,
Hurry, King, Lacey, Lacy, Lake, Leech, Legood, Lord,
Madders, Mansfield, March, Martin, Moore, Nadder,
Newman, Parker, Pitches, Playford, Pottle, Reeder,
Rich, Roberts, Sadler, Sampson, Sillett, Simmons,
Sparkes, Steward, Sutton, Swayes, Tod, Townsend,
Townshent, Utting, Waddell, Walpole, West, Whitwood,
Wigg, Woolnough, Woolsey, Watkinson, Youngs.
PLEASE NOTE - Since they were first recorded, some
inscriptions have inevitably worn away over time,
while others are now difficult or impossible to
read. Visitors to the churchyard may wish to bear
this in mind before undertaking a special or long
journey in the hope or expectation of seeing a gravestone
inscription.
To submit new or missing information for inclusion
in the above records, please contact Terry Kitt
(details above) or either the Parish Clerk or Webmaster
via the 'Contact Us' tabs. Anyone offering such
information does so on the condition the Parish
Council may determine whether it is included.
GRAVESTONE AND MEMORIAL DETAILS
The CHURCHYARD page was created due to the amount
of detail that has been learnt about its gravestones.
Because of that, the page contains this dedicated
Gravestone and Memorials section. The gravestones
and memorials have not only been been researched
but pictured as well. Even family history of the
names has been found and recorded. It is a comprehensive
and very large piece of history which has had to
be split into several separate documents.
For
the purposes of listing the Gravestones and Memorials,
a plan shows the graveyard in blocks. Blocks can
be opened via the appropriate link.
It is thanks to councillor Terry Kitt's painstaking
and time consuming research that this piece of Ashby
history has been published.
For churchyard details click HERE.
It includes a simple A1 type reference which relates
to the above churchyard plan to make it easy for
the user to find the position of a gravestone or
memorial. Also given is the surname, other names
and the inscription.
The churchyard plan has been didvided up into blocks.
To use the churchyard plan references to see the
gravestones within each block, start by clicking
HERE.
Also included are details of one person whose burial
location is unknown.
ASHBY BURIAL RECORDS -1778 to 1902
(With thanks to parishioner
Terry Kitt for his efforts in researching these
records)
Due to their
size these records have been split into three documents. The
quality of the documents is as good as copying allowed
- and the legibility of the entries by the writer
at the time.
Burials
1778 - 1812 Burials
1813-1851 Burials
1851-1902
