wybunbury churchyard

[thor]

I have found in the new cheshire records online buriel entries for several of my family members all wybunbury parish.  I have recently been over to the churchyard and can't find any headstones for this family.  Whilst I can understand that one or to might not have had one there are large branches of the family who remained in the area and they don't have them either.  Any suggestions?

Also does anyone familiar with this churchyard know if there was any order in which people were buried? For example anyone buried in the 1850's go in a particular area.  They seemed to me to be scattered everywhere and in no order but maybe I am missing something.

[silvery]

Could be they couldn't afford headstones.    Is there any register of where people were buried?

[thor]

Well I thought that a buriel record meant they were in a that particular churchyard isn't that the case   I just can't see how I could lose so many of them, they were a large family.   

[LizzieW]

Thor

What is the website address for the new Cheshire on-line burial records?

Lizzie

[thor]

Hi lizzie

I am using

www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~cprdb/

found it really useful but Its not complete yet

[LizzieW]

Thanks Thor.

Lizzie

[mshrmh]

thor - I'm not familiar with this particular churchyard, but am with others that go back beyond this date. As regards the lack of headstones I see silvery has already mentioned that the family may not have been able to afford the cost - another factor may have been that they weren't literate at this stage & taken the view that they knew where the grave was, so why put up a marker that they couldn't read? Otherwise, has this churchyard been tied/cleared at some stage & headstones removed - eg to round the walls or as paths - it does happen.

I think silvery's question

Is there any register of where people were buried?

is asking whether there is a map/plan that shows grave plots & names.

As regards

if there was any order in which people were buried?

I think in early times people were buried around the church, gradually spreading out; then at some point a section might be started & all the graves in that area used before a new section was created. If there are enough stones it may be possible to tell by looking at the earliest burial listed on each. On the other hand I've seen graves tucked into odd corners etc "out of order" presumably either because someone had reserved a particular plot or because the existing space was virtually full & new land not yet available.

[thor]

I think I need to find out more about costs for headstones at the time.  I have one branch of the family over at doveridge in derbyshire and these were as poor as churchmice and yet they have some of the biggest headstones in the churchyard which is a bit of a puzzle as there appears to be no reason for this.

As for maps of buriel plots I don't know if they have them for churchyards.  I know they do for cemetaries.   

Wybunbury is an old churchyard and I think a lot of them have been squeezed in.  Some of the stones had been removed and used for paths which is a great shame as some look to date back in style to 1700's.  We read what we could but no joy.  Odly enough I have had the same problem with a branch of this family who moved into staffordshire.

[Pepsi62]

There are two graveyards at Wybunbury - the newer one is just across the road from the old one - I am not sure when it was opened but I think early 1900's.
The old graveyard is a mess - it has not been maintained and also many headstones have been taken down and used for paths - and some of them placed face down so they cannot be read.
I do not think there is a plan for the graves. The FHSC have surveyed the graveyard and are producing a list of graves and names but this has not been published yet.
The FSHC Alsager Library do have some burial records kept by the gravedigger - these go up to about 1875 and are very useful but a bit difficult to follow.
Say what names you are you looking for - some may ring a bell.
Peter