St. Leonard's Parish Church

Churchyard No1

Churchyard No1 is the original area within the walls of the church and includes burials within the church building itself.

Inside the Church

Grave stones within the building can be divided into 4 distinct areas. The Chancel (Including side chapels), the area in front of the screen, the South Aisle and the North-West corner.

Chancel Area

Around 1907, John Dean in his book “Historical Middleton” produced a plan of the Chancel showing the location and a description of the grave markers. The chancel was completely re-laid in 1910 and some of the markers were either moved or removed.

Dean also remarks on the fact that some of the brasses within the chancel area had already been moved from their original location. This had occurred in late 1889 and was the subject of much correspondence in both the local and national press between supporters and opponents.

The circa 1907 layout by John Dean is shown below for reference, with the current layout and research detailed later.

 

The stones marked 7 to 9, 18, 19, 23 & 24 are no longer extant, 3 has replaced 18 & 19, 5, 6 & 10 are now in the area in front of the Rood Screen. Stone 4 is incorrectly located. The stone at this location was not documented by Dean and the stone referred to is actually at right angles to this one (See Current layout below)

Current Layout

Stones within the building have been numbered according to the plan below. Stones 13 and 14 are now under a carpet. Stone 52 has no inscription and is covered by the raised lower floor. A downloadable booklet is currently being prepared that lists all stones in the building.