Church monument
Encyclopedia
A church monument is an architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 or sculptural
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....

 to a dead
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

 person or persons, located within a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 church. It can take various forms, from a simple wall tablet
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...

 to a large and elaborate structure which may include an effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...

 of the deceased person and other figures of familial or symbolic nature. It usually resides immediately above or close to the actual burial vault
Burial vault (tomb)
A burial vault is a structural underground tomb.It is a stone or brick-lined underground space or 'burial' chamber for the interment of a dead body or bodies. They were originally and are still often vaulted and usually have stone slab entrances...

 or grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....

, although very occasionally the tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...

 is constructed within it. Sometimes the monument is a cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...

, commemorating a person buried at another location.

Once only the subject of antiquarian curiosity, church monuments are today recognised as works of funerary art
Funerary art
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. Tomb is a general term for the repository, while grave goods are objects—other than the primary human remains—which have been placed inside...

. They are also valued by historians as giving a highly detailed record of antique costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...

 and armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...

. From the middle of the 15th century, many figurative monuments also represent genuine portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...

ure.

Development

Medieval period

The earliest English church monuments were simple stone coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...

-shaped grave coverings incised with a cross or similar design; the hogback
Hogback (sculpture)
Hogbacks are stone carved Anglo-Scandinavian sculptures from 10th-12th century England and Scotland. Their function is generally accepted as grave markers.-Geography and description:...

 form is one of the earliest types. The first attempts at commemorative portraiture emerged in the 13th century, executed in low relief, horizontal but as in life. Gradually these became full high-relief effigies
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...

, usually recumbent
Recumbent effigy
Recumbent effigy literally means a "likeness lying in repose"; life-size sculptures of deceased individuals wearing the costume of their station and lying on their back...

, as in death, and, by the 14th century, with hands together in prayer. In general, such monumental effigies were carved in stone, marble or wood, or cast in bronze or brass. Often the stone effigies were painted to resemble life, but on the vast majority of medieval monuments, the paint has long since disappeared. The cross-legged attitude of many armoured figures of the late 13th or early 14th centuries was long supposed to imply that the deceased had served in the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

, had taken crusading vows, or more specifically had been a Knight Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

; but these theories are now rejected by scholars. Feet were often supported by stylised animals, usually either a lion indicating valour and nobility (generally for men), or a dog indicative of loyalty (generally for women). Sometimes the footrest was an heraldic beast from the deceased's family coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

.

By the early 13th century, the effigies were raised on tomb-style chests (known as tomb chests or altar tombs) decorated with foliage, heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 or architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 detailing. Soon such chests stood alone with varying degrees of decorations. By the end of the century, these often had architectural canopies
Canopy (building)
A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor....

. Figured "weepers" (often friends or relatives identified by their coats of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

) were popular decorative features. In the 15th century, the figures were often portrayed as angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

s or saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

s, and the chest might include a cadaver
Cadaver tomb
A cadaver tomb or transi is a church monument or tomb featuring an effigy in the macabre form of a decomposing corpse. The topos was particularly characteristic of the later Middle Ages....

. The most refined monuments were made of alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...

. Around the 13th century, smaller two-dimensional effigies incised in plates of brass and affixed to monumental slabs of stone became popular too. These memorial brasses
Monumental brass
Monumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...

 were somewhat cheaper and particularly popular with the emerging middle class.

Early modern period

The removal of almost all the many wall-paintings in English churches in the iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...

 of the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

 and the English Commonwealth left plenty of bare spaces. Over the following centuries, these were gradually filled by monuments of the wealthy. It is the lack of competition from religious paintings and a tolerance of figurative sculpture in memorials, which most Protestant countries did not share, that produced the exceptionally rich English holdings of large sculptural church monuments.

In the 16th century, church monuments became increasingly influenced by Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 forms and detailing (pilasters, wreaths, strapwork, skulls, coffer
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...

ed arches, obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

s, allegorical figures
Allegorical sculpture
Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas as in allegory.Common in the western world, for example, are statues of 'Justice', a female figure traditionally holding scales in one hand, as a symbol of her weighing issues and arguments, and a...

, etc), particularly in France, the Netherlands and, eventually, England. There were major innovations in effigial posture, the deceased often being shown reclining or kneeling in prayer and surrounded by the whole family, as in life. Cadavers were replaced by skeletons. The 'hanging' mural or wall monument also became popular, sometimes with half-length 'demi-figures'; and also the floor-bound heraldic ledger stone. The 17th century saw an increase in classicism
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...

 and the use of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

. Effigies might be sitting or standing, grief-stricken, shrouded or, unusually, rising from the grave. Busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...

 and relief portraits were popular. High Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 monuments were some of the grandest ever constructed. Decoration turned to cherubs, urns, drapery, garlands of fruit and flowers. In the 18th century, church monuments became more restrained, placed before two-dimensional pyramids, but more Roman-like, with the deceased often depicted in Roman dress or as a cameo-like 'medallion portrait'. The Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 style gave more movement to these figures.

Victorian period

The early 19th century brought Greek Revival monuments, some quite plain wall plaques, some with sentimental and romantically realistic figures (perhaps rising to heaven), or other devices such as weeping willows
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

. Gothic Revival followed, with the obvious return to alabaster, tomb chests and recumbent effigies. However, the Victorian age saw many differing styles, until large-scale monuments fell out of fashion at the end of the century. 20th-century large-scale monuments are not unknown, but quite rare.

Examples of English church monuments

The church monuments of England, in particular, have been preserved in far greater numbers and, generally, in better condition than those of other countries. They are second to none in artistic merit. Fine examples may be found in cathedrals and parish churches in every county, for example:
  • Turvey in Bedfordshire
    Bedfordshire
    Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

  • Aldworth
    Aldworth
    Aldworth is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, close to the modern northern county boundary with Oxfordshire. It is in the rural area between Reading, Newbury and Streatley. The parish includes the neighbouring hamlet of Westridge Green.Aldworth is on the high...

    , Bisham
    Bisham
    Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district of Berkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,149. The village is on the River Thames, north of which is Marlow in Buckinghamshire...

     & St. George's Chapel, Windsor in Berkshire
    Berkshire
    Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

  • Chenies
    Chenies
    Chenies is a village in the very eastern part of south Buckinghamshire, England, near the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated to the east of Chesham and the Chalfonts. Chenies is also a civil parish within Chiltern district....

     & Wing
    Wing, Buckinghamshire
    Wing is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is on the main A418 road between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard...

     in Buckinghamshire
    Buckinghamshire
    Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

  • Bunbury
    Bunbury, Cheshire
    Bunbury is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, south of Tarporley, north west of Nantwich, and on the Shropshire Union Canal...

     & St. Michael's, Macclesfield
    Macclesfield
    Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...

     in Cheshire
    Cheshire
    Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

  • Launceston & St Germans in Cornwall
    Cornwall
    Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

  • Bakewell
    Bakewell
    Bakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...

    , Edensor
    Edensor
    Edensor is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is the closest village to Chatsworth House and much of it belongs to the Dukes of Devonshire. Originally the village was close to the River Derwent immediately below Chatsworth, but the Dukes had it moved out of sight over a hill, apart from one...

    , Kedleston
    Kedleston
    Kedleston is a village and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire. It lies to the north-west of Derby, and nearby places include Quarndon, Weston Underwood, Mugginton, and Kirk Langley.-History:...

     & Norbury
    Norbury, Derbyshire
    Norbury is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is located north of Rocester, on the B5033 road and the River Dove . The hamlet has links with George Eliot's family, the Evans...

     in Derbyshire
    Derbyshire
    Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

  • Gittisham
    Gittisham
    Gittisham is a village in Devon near Honiton. It has a church called St Michael and it is located 3 miles from Ottery St Mary-References:...

     & Holcombe Rogus
    Holcombe Rogus
    Holcombe Rogus is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. The population of the parish is 503.The manor house is described as "perhaps the finest Tudor house in Devon". The last element of the village's name – often mistranscribed as Regis – is that of the owner of...

     in Devon
    Devon
    Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

  • Puddletown
    Puddletown
    Puddletown is a village in Dorset, England, 5 miles east of Dorchester in the River Piddle valley. The village has a population of 1,177 , of which 30.3% are retired....

     & Sherborne Abbey
    Sherborne Abbey
    The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin at Sherborne in the English county of Dorset, is usually called Sherborne Abbey. It has been a Saxon cathedral , a Benedictine abbey and is now a parish church.- Cathedral :...

     in Dorset
    Dorset
    Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

  • Chester-le-Street
    Chester-le-Street
    Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham, England. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis. The town is located south of Newcastle upon Tyne and west of Sunderland on the River Wear...

     & Staindrop
    Staindrop
    Staindrop is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the east of Barnard Castle. Lord Barnard of Raby Castle also resides on the border.The village has one of the long greens typical of County Durham...

     in County Durham
    County Durham
    County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

  • Winchelsea
    Winchelsea
    Winchelsea is a small village in East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately two miles south west of Rye and seven miles north east of Hastings...

     & Withyam in East Sussex
    East Sussex
    East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

  • Chipping Campden
    Chipping Campden
    Chipping Campden is a small market town within the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its elegant terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century...

     & Tewkesbury Abbey
    Tewkesbury Abbey
    The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...

     in Gloucestershire
    Gloucestershire
    Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

  • St. Helen, Bishopsgate
    St Helen's Bishopsgate
    St Helen's Bishopsgate is a large conservative evangelical Anglican church, in Lime Street ward, in the City of London, close to the Lloyd's building and the 'Gherkin'.-History:...

     & the Chapel
    Chapel
    A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

     of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London
    Tower of London
    Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

    , City of London
    City of London
    The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

  • Harefield
    Harefield
    Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London, England. It is situated on top of a hill, northwest of Charing Cross, near the Greater London boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north...

    , Temple Church
    Temple Church
    The Temple Church is a late-12th-century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court both use the church. It is famous for its effigy tombs and for being a round church...

     & Westminster Abbey
    Westminster Abbey
    The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

     in Middlesex
    Middlesex
    Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

  • Titchfield
    Titchfield
    Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market...

     & Winchester Cathedral
    Winchester Cathedral
    Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...

     in Hampshire
    Hampshire
    Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

  • Holme Lacey, Much Marcle & Ross-on-Wye
    Ross-on-Wye
    Ross-on-Wye is a small market town with a population of 10,089 in southeastern Herefordshire, England, located on the River Wye, and on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean.-History:...

     in Herefordshire
    Herefordshire
    Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

  • Bishop's Hatfield
    Hatfield, Hertfordshire
    Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...

     & Knebworth
    Knebworth
    Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden and Langley, and encompasses the village of Knebworth, the...

     in Hertfordshire
    Hertfordshire
    Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

  • Canterbury Cathedral
    Canterbury Cathedral
    Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

    , Goudhurst
    Goudhurst
    Goudhurst is a village in Kent on the Weald, about south of Maidstone.It stands on a crossroads , where there is a large village pond. It is also in the Cranbrook School catchment area....

     & Lynsted
    Lynsted
    Lynsted is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is situated south of the A2 road, between Faversham and Sittingbourne. Lynsted is a typical old-English village with church , local pub and a duck pond.-External links:*...

     in Kent
    Kent
    Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

  • Bottesford
    Bottesford, Leicestershire
    This page is about the English village of Bottesford near Grantham. For the Bottesford near Scunthorpe, see Bottesford, LincolnshireBottesford is a village and civil parish within the Melton district of Leicestershire, England....

     & Breedon-on-the-Hill in Leicestershire
    Leicestershire
    Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

  • Lincoln Cathedral
    Lincoln Cathedral
    Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...

    , Spilsby
    Spilsby
    Spilsby is a market town and civil parish in Lincolnshire. England. The town is situated adjacent to the main A16 Trunk Road at the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds north of the Fenlands, east of the county town of Lincoln, north east of Boston and north west from Skegness.The town has...

     & St Martin's Church, Stamford
    St Martin's Church, Stamford
    St Martin's Church, Stamford is a parish church in the Church of England located in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. The area of the town, south of the River Welland, was in Northamptonshire until 1889 and is called Stamford Baron or St Martin's.-History:...

     in Lincolnshire
    Lincolnshire
    Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

    .
  • Tittleshall
    Tittleshall
    Tittleshall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.-Location:The village and parish of Tittleshall has an area of 1376 hectares or . The parish is bordered to the north with the parishes of Raynham and Colkirk, to the west with Wellingham All Saints, to the south with the...

     & St. Nicholas' Chapel, King's Lynn in Norfolk
    Norfolk
    Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

  • Great Brington
    Great Brington
    Great Brington is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England. The village, in the civil parish of Brington, has a population of about 200. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St John....

    , Lowick
    Lowick, Northamptonshire
    Lowick is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It appears in the Domesday Book as Luhwik, and later as Lofwyk and in 1167 as Luffewich. The name derives from Old English "Luhha's or Luffa's dwelling place", wic being cognate to vicus in Latin...

    , Stowe-Nine-Churches
    Stowe Nine Churches
    Stowe Nine Churches is a civil parish incorporating the settlements of Church Stowe and Upper Stowe in the English county of Northamptonshire.-Name:...

     & Warkton
    Warkton
    Warkton is a nucleated village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. It is about three miles north-east of the town of Kettering and forms part of the borough of Kettering. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 144 people.- External links :*...

     in Northamptonshire
    Northamptonshire
    Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

  • Langar
    Langar, Nottinghamshire
    Langar is a small village about four miles south of Bingham in Nottinghamshire and the Vale of Belvoir.-Geography:To the south of the parish of Langar cum Barnstone, on Langar Airfield, it borders Clawson, Hose and Harby, the district of Melton and Leicestershire. At Hose Lane it meets Colston...

     & Strelley
    Strelley, Nottingham
    Strelley is the name of a village and civil parish to the west of Nottingham. It is also the name of the nearby post war council housing estate. The village lies within Broxtowe, whilst the estate is in the City of Nottingham...

     in Nottinghamshire
    Nottinghamshire
    Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

  • Exton
    Exton, Rutland
    Exton is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.The village includes a tree-planted green overlooked by the Fox & Hounds pub....

     & Stoke Dry
    Stoke Dry
    Stoke Dry is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, about three miles southwest of Uppingham.In 2007 it had a population of 39. With only 14 homes this is a quiet village with its mediaeval church dedicated to Saint Andrew...

     in Rutland
    Rutland
    Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

  • Burford
    Burford
    Burford is a small town on the River Windrush in the Cotswold hills in west Oxfordshire, England, about west of Oxford, southeast of Cheltenham and only from the Gloucestershire boundary...

    , Dorchester Abbey
    Dorchester Abbey
    Dorchester Abbey is a Church of England parish church in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, about southeast of Oxford. It was formerly a Norman abbey church and was built on the site of a Saxon cathedral.-History:...

    , Ewelme
    Ewelme
    Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...

     & Rotherfield Greys
    Rotherfield Greys
    Rotherfield Greys is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is west of Henley-on-Thames and just over east of the village of Rotherfield Peppard....

     in Oxfordshire
    Oxfordshire
    Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

  • Kinlet
    Kinlet
    Kinlet is a civil parish of Shropshire, England. Most of the land within Kinlet, including Kinlet Church and Kinlet Hall, are the inheritance of the Childe family. The Hall had formerly been held by the Blount family and subsequently the Lacon family, and dates back to the Domesday Book...

     & Tong
    Tong, Shropshire
    Tong is a village in Shropshire in England. It is near junction 3 of the M54 motorway near Albrighton.The village is remarkable mainly for its church, St Bartholomews, outside of which is the supposed grave of Little Nell, a fictional character in Charles Dickens book, The Old Curiosity Shop...

     in Shropshire
    Shropshire
    Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

  • Hinton St George
    Hinton St George
    Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside of Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 404....

     & Rodney Stoke
    Rodney Stoke
    Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at , 5 miles north-west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. The village is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip....

     in Somerset
    Somerset
    The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

  • Elford
    Elford
    Elford is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. It is situated on the east bank of the River Tame, about east of the City of Lichfield and 5 miles north of Tamworth.-Origins:...

     & Ilam
    Ilam, Staffordshire
    Ilam is a village in the Staffordshire Peak District, lying on the River Manifold. This article describes some of the main features of the village and surroundings.- Ilam village :...

     in Staffordshire
    Staffordshire
    Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

  • Framlingham
    St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham
    St Michael the Archangel in Framlingham, Suffolk, known affectionately as St Mike's, is a Church of England church dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel. It was the burial site of the House of Howard. The church was declared a Grade I listed building in 1966.-History:The Church of Saint Michael...

     & Wingfield
    Wingfield, Suffolk
    Wingfield is a village in the English county of Suffolk. It is found east of Diss, signposted off B1118, near Eye.Wingfield Castle, which is now a private house, was for many centuries the home of the Wingfield family and their heirs, the De La Poles, Earls and Dukes of Suffolk...

     in Suffolk
    Suffolk
    Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

  • Bletchingley
    Bletchingley
    Bletchingley is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone.-History:The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....

     & Ockham
    Ockham, Surrey
    Ockham is a tiny English village near East Horsley, in Surrey, England. The village lies to the east of the A3 which runs between Cobham and Guildford. Other neighbouring villages include Ripley, Wisley and Effingham....

     in Surrey
    Surrey
    Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

  • Stratford-upon-Avon
    Stratford-upon-Avon
    Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...

     & St. Mary's Collegiate Church, Warwick
    Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick
    The Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in the town of Warwick, England. It lies in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is a member of the Greater Churches Group....

     in Warwickshire
    Warwickshire
    Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

  • Arundel
    Arundel
    Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...

     & Boxgrove Priory
    Boxgrove Priory
    Boxgrove Priory, in the village of Boxgrove in Sussex, was founded in about 1066 by Robert de Haye, who in 1105 bestowed the church of St. Mary of Boxgrove upon the Benedictine Abbey of Lessay. In about 1126 upon the marriage of Robert's daughter Cecily, to Roger St...

     in West Sussex
    West Sussex
    West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

  • Edington Priory
    Edington Priory
    Edington Priory in Wiltshire, England, was founded by William Edington, the bishop of Winchester, in 1332 in his home village of Edington. The priory church was built between 1352 and 1361.-History:...

    , Lydiard Tregoze
    Lydiard Tregoze
    Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the County of Wiltshire, in the south west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in other ways.-History:...

     & Salisbury Cathedral
    Salisbury Cathedral
    Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

     in Wiltshire
    Wiltshire
    Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

  • Croome D'Abitot
    St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot
    St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Croome D'Abitot, Worcestershire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It stands on a hill in...

     & Elmley Castle
    Elmley Castle
    Elmley Castle is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, in England, United Kingdom. It is located on the north side of Bredon Hill 4 kilometres south east of Pershore in the local government district of Wychavon.- Amenities and history :...

     in Worcestershire
    Worcestershire
    Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

  • Beverley Minster
    Beverley Minster
    Beverley Minster, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire is a parish church in the Church of England. It is said to be the largest parish church in the UK....

    , Holy Trinity Church
    Holy Trinity Church, Hull
    Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican parish church in the centre of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.-History:It is the largest parish church in England when floor area is the measurement for comparison...

    , Hull
    Kingston upon Hull
    Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

     & Swine
    Swine, East Riding of Yorkshire
    Swine is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north east of Hull city centre and south of Skirlaugh to the west of the A165 road....

     in the East Riding of Yorkshire
    East Riding of Yorkshire
    The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

  • Coxwold
    Coxwold
    Coxwold is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated 18 miles north of York and is where the Rev. Laurence Sterne wrote A Sentimental Journey....

     & West Tanfield
    West Tanfield
    West Tanfield is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. Situated about 6 miles north of Ripon on the A6108, which goes from Ripon into Wensleydale, West Tanfield is on the edge of both the Yorkshire Dales and the Vale of York...

     in the North Riding of Yorkshire
    North Riding of Yorkshire
    The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...

  • Harewood
    Harewood
    Harewood is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England. The A61 runs through the village, from Leeds city centre in the south to Harrogate in the north...

     & Kirkheaton
    Kirkheaton
    Kirkheaton is a village north east of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England and has a population of 4,209 together with Upper Heaton.- Education :Kirkheaton has a primary school, Kirkheaton Primary School, which is situated on New Road....

     in the West Riding of Yorkshire
    West Riding of Yorkshire
    The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...


External links

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