Christian graves are always orientated longways East to West, that is to face the rising sun. The headstones usually also face East although there are exceptions to this; when the grave is by a path the headstone may be reversed so that it can be seen more easily.

The churchyard still contains several large family memorials, the earliest grave, the only one in 1864, being that of Walter Richard Daines, a name well known in early parish times. The incumbent must give permission before gravestones are erected. The churchyard was closed by Order in Council in 1991 as there was no more space for new graves. After 1991 there have only been burials in existing graves and ashes interred in family graves and the Garden of Rest.

Gravestones and Headstones serve as memorials to the dead. and are made of stone, marble or granite. An epitaph may be carved on them. R.l.P. stands for the Latin words Requiescat In Pace, meaning 'rest in peace'. Their inscriptions can tell us a little of the history of the families who have lived in the district.

The Garden of Rest

The Garden of Rest
For interments an area has been reserved in the churchyard, not far from the lych gate entrance which is at the north-east corner. The area has a lawn to receive the ashes, bordered by flowerbeds and a wooden bench, which can be used as a quiet place for reflection. Uncontained ashes are interred with a formal ceremony with no marking being left on the lawn. Flowers are sometimes left by mourners on and around the lawn and the surrounds, but they are gathered up after a few days so that the lawn is kept clear and the permanent flowerbeds undisturbed. Revd. Brunt died in 1989 and his ashes were buried in the Garden of Remembrance in the churchyard after the Parish Communion on 15 October.

The War Memorial

The War Memorial
The War Memorial commemorates those men and women from local families who died in the forces in the service of their country during the two world wars. The plinth of the memorial is inscribed with the names of 124 such men who died in the first world war, 1914 to 1918, and the 29 men and women who died in the second world war, 1939 to 1945. The inscribed plinth is surmounted by a tall stone cross, which is visible from nearly all the churchyard. The memorial was designed by P. M. Andrews and eventually unveiled on May 26th, 1920. Wreaths are laid at the War Memorial in a ceremony on Remembrance Sunday.

'Their name liveth for evermore These died the death of honour
For God, King and Country In the Great War, 1914-1919'

The Canadian war graves

The Canadian War Graves
During the first world war a contingent of Canadian troops was billeted in Bushy Park, and Upper Lodge became the King’s Canadian Hospital for Canadians wounded in battle. Some died of their wounds and were buried in an area of our churchyard reserved for them. Special care is still taken of these graves; the Canadian War Graves Commission has given us help in their maintenance.

There are thirteen graves, all of a similar pattern with plain white headstones, kept with close-cut grass and tended flowerbeds. A Canadian maple shades the graves, and the whole area is of particular interest and importance to Canadian visitors, some of whom were related to the soldiers. A fourteenth Canadian soldier, Joe Boyle, was once buried in the churchyard. He had a very remarkable war record.

Left: Revd. Chubb and churchwarden at Lt. Col. Joseph Boyle's grave and urn Above: The memorial stone

Lt. Col. Joseph Boyle DSO
Joe Boyle was a man of great initiative and great independence. Born in 1867, he made his fortune in the Yukon. At the outbreak of the world war in 1914 he tried to enlist but was refused because of his age. Undeterred he raised and equipped a fifty-man machine-gun troop for the allied cause. His subsequent career was quite extraordinary. He was given a series of diplomatic missions, and was awarded honours from Russia, France, Britain, Romania and was given the title of Duke of Jassy by the Queen of Romania.

After the war he settled in Hampton Hill, where he died in 1923, and was buried in St James’s churchyard. The Canadians requested that his remains be returned to them, permission was given by our church and diocese, and in 1983 the remains were exhumed and buried in Ontario with a plaque in his honour. A memorial stone has been put on the site of his original grave in our churchyard. Read about Joe Boyle on the pages The Hero who Lived at Wayside and Joe Boyle: The Epilogue and the newspaper articles.

The Manning Grave
H. A. Manning, known as John, a resident of Hampton Hill, was a driver with the Royal Army Service Corps in the second world war. He died of injuries incurred during the war on April 7th 1947 at the age of 29, and was buried in the churchyard. John’s widow, Phyllis Marjorie Manning, emigrated to Australia. She never remarried, and died on August 4th 2008 at the age of 93. After her death Mrs. Manning's family got in touch and requested that her ashes should be brought from Australia, and her mortal remains buried with those of her husband. This duly happened in December 2008. A stone tablet dedicated to Phyllis is placed on the grave under original headstone; thus the Mannings were re-united some sixty-one years after John's death.

Altogether there are five British war graves. Four of St. James's vicars are buried in the churchyard - see below.

The Grave of Revd. Fitzroy John Fitzwygram

The Grave of Revd. Henry Bligh

The Grave of Revd. Richard Coad-Pryor

The Grave of Revd. Richard Coad-Pryor