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THE CHURCHYARD
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The
churchyard is the land surrounding the church and
is used as a graveyard. It has been consecrated
by a bishop and can be called God's acre. Consecrated
means set apart as sacred. It covers an area of
about 1.6 acres and contains about 1200 known graves
which can be seen in the Churchyard
Records. Misbehaviour
in the churchyard can be punished by law.
Animals are not allowed to graze in a churchyard,
and no-one may cut down or plant trees unless first
having obtained the permission of the Parochial
Church Council, the incumbent (usually the vicar),
and the Archdeacon. |
The
original churchyard was small but was greatly enlarged
in 1882 when the Vicar of Hampton donated an acre
of land adjoining Park Road to extend it.
In the churchyard there is a shed for garden equipment.
There is a double garage beside the hall which is
used mainly for storage for the church and for the
nursery school who are regular weekday hall users. |
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The lych gate
is the roofed gateway of the churchyard (really
part of the church), lyc
being the old English word for corpse or body. Thus
the words lych gate really mean corpse gate.
In the Middle Ages most people were buried in just
shrouds rather than coffins, the dead being carried
to the lych gate and placed on a bier, where the
priest conducted the first part of the funeral service
under its temporary shelter. |
| The clergyman
always led the funeral procession into the church,
and he still does so. This is because he is the
representative of the Church which is commending
the soul of the dead person to God. The
lych gate also served to shelter the pall-bearers
(people who carry the coffin) while the bier was
brought from the church.
St. James's lych gate consists of a roofed porch like
structure over a gate, built of wood with four upright
wooden posts in a rectangular shape. On top of this
are a number of beams holding a pitched roof covered
clay tiles. Lych gates used to be found at the traditional
entrance to the churchyard, and St. James's lych gate
used to be nearer St. James's Road, being moved
to its present site in the early 1900s. |
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Gravestones
and Headstones serve as memorials to the
dead. Their inscriptions can tell us a little of
the history of the families who have lived in the
district. They are made of stone, marble or granite.
An epitaph is carved on them. The letters R.l.P.
stand for the Latin words Requiescat
In Pace, meaning rest in peace.
The incumbent (vicar) must
also give permission before gravestones are erected
but our churchyard was closed for burials, except
in family graves, in 1992 and it is now maintained
by contractors to the Council of the London Borough
of Richmond upon Thames. See the Graves
images page. |
| The
War Memorial was built in 1920 after the
Armistice in November 1918 at the end of the first
world war. At a meeting with the Rev. R. Coad-Pryor,
it was decided to erect a memorial to all those
parishoners who had lost their lives during that
war. One hundred and fifty one men and two women
from Hampton Hill lost their lives during both world
wars. Their names are engraved on the Parish War
Memorial together with the following inscription.
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' |
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There
are twelve Canadian and five British graves all
from the First World War.
These are the graves of soldiers who died in Upper
Lodge in nearby Bushy Park when it was used as a
Canadian Military Hospital. These graves are maintained
to a very high standard by the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission. |
| The
Garden of Rest is where the ashes of loved
ones can be buried and remembered. |
| Trees,
Shrubs and Flowers |
Some of the trees, shrubs and
flowers growing in the churchyard have long been
thought to have a symbolic meaning. They remind
us of things connected with the Christian faith.
See the Churchyard
images page. |
| The
Yew Trees are
very old. The yew is slow-growing and a very long-lived
tree, so it has been looked upon as a symbol of
immortality and therefore a suitable tree to be
planted in the place where people are buried. |
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The
prickly leaves of The
Holly remind usr of the crown of thorns
which Jesus wore when he was crucified. The red
berries are like drops of blood which remind us
that Christ's blood was shed for us.
Thus the holly tree has come to be known as a reminder
of the Passion of Christ. |
The
Laurel is another evergreen shrub which has
long been thought of as a symbol of victory and
distinction with a laurel wreath, a circular wreath
made of interlocking branches and leaves, being
awarded to winners of ancient games.
They were adopted as a symbol of Christian victory
and can remind us of the great victory of Christ
over sin and death. |
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The
Daffodil and the
Lily remind us of everlasting life. Though
the bulbs look dead when they are placed in the
ground, new life springs within them and they
blossom into beautiful flowers. So our church
is decorated with such blooms especially at Easter
time.
The Lily of
the Valley, with its white blossom is a
symbol of purity and humility, and it is often
associated with Mary the mother of Jesus.
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The
Clover, being a three-leaved plant is an
obvious symbol of the Holy Trinity. Each individual
leaf has three parts, which are not three separate
leaves, but one leaf. So in the same way, God is
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost;
yet He is not three Gods, but one.
The Christmas Rose
has been thought of as a reminder of the Nativity.
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