Possible MIs for William Wickstead in Wrenbury church

[Andrew RM Hayes]

Jay
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner, the end of the week proved rather hectic.
Thanks for taking a look. It was a bit of a longshot. That's why I wondered if there might be antiquarian records. Rev William Wickstead, grandson of the William buried in 1665, had a ledger stone recorded in the chancel of a church in Somerset by an antiquary in the 1780s, but there is no trace there now after a mid 19th century restoration. In another church near Bath the workmen took up all the floors and looted the vaults during a restoration. They even sold the lead from my ancestors' coffins to plumbers in Bath! Fortunately the mural tablets are still in place, but the newspaper accounts reveal that nothing remained in the vaults but rubbish and miscellaneous bones. So much for resting in peace.
I was aware that the Nantwich Wicksteads were armigerous, having found the Herald's Visitation for Cheshire on line, but my Williams did not appear on the family tree quoted. I did come across the reference to the History of Nantwich on line, but when I tried to access its family tree I only got nonsense symbols. Will try again with the reference you provided. I obtained the wills and inventories via Find my past, and the IPM was also on line, but I'll try to locate the volume you mention to see if there is any additional information.
regards
Andrew

[Jayson]

So much for resting in peace indeed.  How awful. But ever so interesting that you have an account of what happened from a local newspaper.  Many churches, sadly, seemed to have suffered during the 19th century.  My local church suffered a similar fate.  Fortunately for us an antiquarian had the foresight to record what he saw which is now preserved at the Ashmolean.

Jay