Plumtree St MaryChurchyard
The churchyard has an area of 6500 sq. metres. It surrounds the church on all
four sides and contains several trees, with old chestnuts and limes around the
periphery. It is bounded by Old Melton Road to the north and Church Hill to
the west. The churchyard was extended eaastwards in 1925. A
ha-ha to the south separates the churchyard from the grounds of the Old Rectory.
Some space (only about 5% of the whole) remains for further burials.
The earliest dated memorial in the graveyard is from 1705, and about 65% of
the memorials were erected over 100 years ago. The older gravestones are mostly
of slate; the rough-backed ones Swithland slate and the smoother ones Welsh
slate.
Monuments of particular interest are those in memory of:
General Hopkinson (also commemorated in one of the windows)
Revd. William Burnside
The Pritchet headstone |
Richard Pritchet, founder of the Pritchet Trust, a charity to give loaves
to 12 poor residents of Plumtree, who died on 21 March 1760 aged 83
Reuben George Brooke, son of James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, lost at sea
in May 1874 at the age of 40, and his son Stewart, who died on 12 October
1870 aged 2 years and 4 months
40465 Private Thomas Mitchell, Notts and Derby Regiment, died 1 November
1918, whose grave used to be maintained by the War Graves Commission
Henry Lewis Noel, 3rd son of Charles Noel Earl of Gainsborough, died at
Lamcote House 7 June 1893
Garden of Rest
A Garden of Rest was made in 1996 against the south wall which divides the
churchyard from the garden of the Old Rectory. A plaque on the wall is inscribed
A GARDEN OF REST
This plaque was given in memory of Wilfred Giles Reader of this
Parish 1962-1989 |
Two commemorative oak seats stand in the garden of rest and there are three
further seats in the churchyard.
Burial Registers
Burial Registers kept in the church cover the dates 28 February 1895 to 31
December 1992 and January 1993 to date. Registers dating back to 1558 are kept
in the Nottinghamshire Archives.
|