Welcome to St Mary's in Prestwich

Welcome to the historical churchyard of Saint Mary's in Prestwich.

Please take care while visiting the churchyard. The stones can be very slippy and trip hazards await the unsuspecting. Try and stay to the grass as it can provide more grip, and do not visit alone.

Bring a graveyard buddy !

The volunteers do a great job maintaining the churchyard, performing tasks such as gardening, litter picking, weeding, pruning, an even minor stonework and pathway repairs. You can help or just come along for a chat and a brew with the volunteers on Tuesday mornings from 9 a.m., there is even cake !

Now, I've convinced you to volunteer, even if it is only for the cake, let's get started !

The Churchyard gates were taken for the war effort in 1940 and what you see today are modern replacements, apart from the sadly damaged gate piers.

Let's go back further in time. The war memorial cross, of Portland stone on an octagonal base, was unveiled in 1921. It was designed by the architect, Isaac Taylor, as an exact replica of the memorial crosses designed by Sir David Bronifield for the British cemeteries in France. In the same year, a war memorial screen was placed in the Wilton Chapel, the gift of the Mothers of the Fallen, with panels of names around a central image of the Risen Christ, painted by E.W. Tristram.

A plaque in the wall beside the gates commemorates the enclosure of the Churchyard in 1827 just under 200 years ago, but let's go back even further!

The Hearse House and mortuary, now used as storage were built in 1801, but beside the gates stands a mounting block that dates from 1678. That's nearly 340 years ago !

But look up to the tower that The Earl of Derby had built in or about 1500 A.D. , quick maths tells me that's over 600 years ago !

But we could travel even further back in time as the circular boundry of the churchyard still visible today, hints at a much earlier date, maybe over 1000 years ago !

oh, I nearly forgot ! If you find me talking too much, or too fast, then you can use the pause button on the screen to take a break. I won't be offended. We all need to take a break from each other at sometime !

Back to the present day, let's head along the path to the left of the War Memorial and walk toward the south side of the church.