OUR History

THE CHURCHYARD

The church has always been surrounded by a graveyard for the burial of the dead. Burial registers have recorded all the burials since 1559. By 1819 the churchyard had become full and it was enlarged by incorporating part of Coney Green on the south side. It became full again in 1867 when it was closed to burials in new graves, while burials were allowed to continue for family members in existing graves. The last such burial took place in 1948.

The sizeable churchyard contains 600 memorials including many substantial and impressive chest tombs, however brambles, and particularly ivy, have grown into many of these and caused considerable damage to them.

The churchyard includes 12 gravestones dating back to the 17th century. The oldest of these is the grave at location D82 for Bartholomew Pearce of Woxbridge (the ancient name for Uxbridge) who died in 1673; and the next oldest is at location D96 for William Webb, also of Woxbridge, who died in 1677. These two are both
described as the top of a chest tomb now laid flat. The churchyard includes many stones like these. They appear at first site to be well carved ledger stones, lying flat on the ground, but they have shaped rounded edges indicating that they were most likely the tops of chest tombs, presumably damaged in the past, and now with their sides removed.

Many of the gravestones have an interesting story to tell. There is an elaborate chest tomb which once had pillars at location B69 for Thomas Harris (1739-1820) who was a patentee of Covent Garden Theatre. There is an area in Section D including graves D67, D68, D83, D86 and D94 all of which commemorate distinguished apothecaries, several of them appointed to monarchs.

One tomb that stands out to the visitor is that of Vice Admiral Sir James Nicoll Morris, for the tomb (A71) is seen well embedded into the wall of the church, with a neatly constructed archway framing the stone and supporting the wall above. The wall was part of the 1848-49 rebuilding of the church, whereas Sir James Nicoll Morris had been buried in his grave from 1830, so in his case he had been allowed to rest in peace while the church was built around him.

The above text is taken from the 2019 survey document produced by the West Middlesex Family History Society.