The Full Listing of Graves with Their Inscriptions St Margaret's
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The Full Listing of Graves with their Inscriptions St Margaret’s Churchyard Ditchling The Project St Margaret’s Church, c1900 In the past the peace of the churchyard would have been punctuated by the nearby sounds of children playing in the school playground and of animals in the farmyard. Today, our churchyard is a peaceful place of rest, rich in history and fine craftsmanship, where we may pause and reflect on the lives lived in our community over the centuries. The parish churchyard belongs to both the religious and the physical landscape but also, crucially, to the historic landscape. Walk around a churchyard, pause to look at the headstones, and you may read the history of a place and its people. Inscriptions on gravestones mark the lives and deaths of individuals and families, record achievement and tragedy and tell of cataclysmic events such as war or epidemic. In 2005, concerned at the deterioration of some of the headstones, and knowing how many visitors to Ditchling wanted help finding particular gravestones, members of Ditchling History Project set out to update the existing list of monumental inscriptions. An earlier survey, undertaken in 1991 by Mr R Washington, listed all legible names and dates and without it many of the graves in the northern extension plot, which had completely disappeared under the turf, would not have been found. The decision was made to transcribe the inscriptions in full and it was soon realised that a description of the type of memorial was also needed as a means of helping to locate specific graves. Memorials were photographed to record condition. The original burial plans are no longer kept in the Church and, while searching for them at East Sussex Record Office, a slim volume was discovered entitled ‘Monumental Inscriptions of Ditchling Churchyard’ compiled in 1877 by Frederick William Town Attree. This transcribed the inscriptions in full and became an invaluable tool for checking inscriptions that are hardly legible today, more than 130 years later. In 2009 the Burial Plan for the northern extension plot was found and, with its accompanying register, it became possible to locate burial sites in this area for those people with no memorial. Where this is the case, the words ‘unmarked grave’ have been added to the list of monumental inscriptions. How to Find a Grave For the purpose of locating a grave the churchyard has been divided into the ten sections, shown on the plan. Each grave number consists of three parts; comprising letters to show the section, a number to show the row and an individual grave number. This means that grave number B-8-37 would be the thirty seventh grave in section B, found in row 8. A word search may be the quickest way to find the grave(s) you are looking for. However, the name index at the end of this document shows at a glance how many family graves are in the churchyard. The list of Monumental Inscriptions is organised in grave number order. To locate the graves in the churchyard, it is wise to note the type of memorial and a few names either side of the grave you are searching for, but most importantly note the name and number of the grave at the beginning of the relevant row, so you can work from there. It should be borne in mind that, in some cases, what is described as a row can be confusingly irregular. The arrows on the plan show the starting point for each row within a section. AA-1-1 to AA-1-6 Section AA – From the museum wall to the north-south path (opposite the path to the Green), and across to the line of the east-west path Start at western end of Church Lane, close to wall of Museum, read from south to north [Lying flat in the grass close to the Museum wall, this stone covered with grass, lying between the grave of Mary Wathen and the wall, is an incomplete duplicate of the one to be found at AD-17-70] In affectionate remembrance of Caroline the beloved wife of Edward Ashford of Court Gardens died 2 Oct 1899 aged 64 years ‘Her children rise up and call her blessed’ Also of the above named Edward Ashford who died October 9th 1908 aged 69 years ‘Just man walketh in his integrity’ Proverbs XX1 Row AA-1 AA-1-1 [Low Headstone and kerb under the yew tree] In loving memory of Walter Towne died 14 Decr 1922 aged 71 years ‘Thy will be done’ AA-1-2 [Kerb, with paved infill – under yew tree] [East kerb] In loving memory of Harriet Marion Dumbrell died on 25th October 1919 [Small flat stone, left bottom corner] Also of Mary Jane Dumbrell who died 28th Aug 1962 [Small flat stone, right bottom corner] Also of Edith Sarah Dumbrell who died 14th April 1953 AA-1-3 [Celtic cross on a rough plinth, kerb] In loving memory of Mabel Osborne died March 9th 1925 aged 46 ‘There is no death’ AA-1-4 [Cross on tiered base, kerb] In loving memory of Mary Wathen died 10th December 1925 aged 63 [on lowest tier] Also Alfred Henry Wathen husband of the above died 26th November 1927 AA-1-5 [Small flat stone] Colonel Richard Alexander Steel 6 October 1873 13 July 1928 [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists George William Page] AA-1-6 [Wooden scroll sitting on slate wedge] [On wooden scroll] A E Fuller crossed the bar 13th Feb 1929 Also H M Fuller wife of the above died June 30 1935 ‘And may there be no sadness when I embark’ Tennyson [On slate wedge] In memory of the Sinden family Mabel Agnes 1891 - 1959 (née Fuller), Alfred Edward 1895 – 1972, Joy May 1920 – 1993, Donald Alfred 1923 – 2014, Leon Fuller 1927 – 2015 AA-2-7 to AA-2-10 [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Reed] [Unmarked grave in line of the east-west path] [The Register of Graves lists Jane Elizabeth Kimpton] Row AA-2 AA-2-7 [Headstone & footstone] [Symbol of The Guild of St Joseph & St Dominic] Hilary Douglas Clark Pepler 1877 – 1951, Claire Lilian Pepler 1880 – 1959, David Whiteman Pepler 1905 – 1934 ‘Requiescant in pace’ [Footstone] HDCP CLP DWP AA-2-8 [Low Headstone & kerb] In Memory of Ella Dunnington-Jefferson born 23rd May 1888 died 29th Nov 1934 [Unmarked grave to the west of Dunnington-Jefferson grave] [The Register of Graves lists Ida Hester Larkison] [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Constance Boys-Smith] [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Edith Carbon Morgan] AA-2-8a [Kerb, with paved infill] [South kerb] John Attree Dumbrell, husband of Blanche Dumbrell and elder son of James and Sarah Mill Dumbrell died 5th July 1930 aged 67 years. [East kerb] “Now thy labour’s task is o’er” [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Rosa Emily Maynard] AA-2-9 [Headstone] In loving memory of Audrey Ann 1924-1931 daughter of Charles Gordon Smith 1880- 1955 and his wife Marjorie Helen 1899-1993 AA-2-10 [Cross on rough plinth, kerb] In loving memory of Charlotte Elizabeth (Lottie) dearly loved wife of C James Borradaile who died 29 Nov 1921 Also in loving memory of C James Borradaile who died 21 Jan 1922 AA-3-11 to AA-3-16 AA-2-11 [Double plot with kerb] [Broken headstone] In loving memory of Albert James G … died 15th Sept 19 … aged 69 years also Lilian Sus … [Washington - In loving memory of Albert James Gorringe died 15th Sept 1950 aged 69 years also Lilian Susan Gorringe died 8 Aug 1955.] [Headstone] In memoriam George Grainger who died Jany 14th 1903 aged 83 years Also of Mary wife of the above who died Jany 2nd 1898 aged 83 years And of Mary their eldest daughter who died Decr 10th 1891 aged 45 years Also of William Grainger grandson of the above who died Jun 8th 1928 aged 60 years ‘RIP’ [Unmarked grave in line of the east-west path] [The Register of Graves lists Eric Stanley Claydon] Row AA-3 [incomplete row starting away from path] [Footstone to Pepler grave AA-2-7] AA-3-12 [Wedge] Emma Florence daughter of Robert Mills married (1) G H Pepler (2) Francis Thompson died Sept. 15 1935 aged 82 also of Edith Jessie MacRae sister of the above who died at Ostend on 31 Jan 1936 ‘RIP’ AA-3-13 [Wedge & Kerb] Gertrude Mary Blake only daughter of Henry Blake MB of Gt Yarmouth died 21st May 1932 [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Herbert William Baker] [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Walter Mitchell] AA-3-14 [Kerb] 1868 – 1930 In memory of Katharine wife of the late William John Kittson AA-3-15 [Kerb] In loving memory of dear Fanny youngest daughter of Harold M Verrall of Hamsey died 28th April 1923 aged 52 years [On foot of kerb] ‘At rest’ AA-3-16 [Headstone] In loving memory of William Crispin Edwards who died 11th May 1900 aged 68 years ‘The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want’ Also of Mary Ann wife of the above who died February 1st 1917 aged 83 years Also of Abigail Ruth Joseph and Lydia Susan children of the above AA-4-17 to AA-5-23 AA-3-17 [Headstone] In loving memory of James Thomas Edwards who died 19th June 1899 aged 42 years ‘In the midst of life we are in death’ Also of Elizabeth Jane Edwards beloved wife of the above who died May 31st 1940 aged 83 years [Line of east-west path] Row AA-4 AA-4-18 [Headstone] In most loving memory of Mary Dorothea Warren second daughter of Algernon William Warren Esq and of Cecil [sic] Warren his wife Born at Bristol Jany 27th 1858 died June 1st 1926 [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Caroline Holligan] [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Betsy Foster and Mary Thomas] AA-4-19 [Headstone] In loving memory of Lizzie Elliot wife of James Lawrence Bland who died 15 Oct 1935 aged 61 years [Unmarked grave] [The Register of Graves lists Frederick Bartlett] AA-4-20 [Cross] Elizabeth Harriet Clarkson died August 1st 1933 aged 89 Sarah Cecilia Clarkson died October 29th 1935 aged 59 [Unmarked