Baptist Chapel

Early history of Rode Baptists

An extract from page 1 of the records of the Baptist church in Rode describes events before the chapel was built in 1786:

“The first issues of this church was as follows: In the year 1777 there was a young evangelical clergyman came to ROAD as a curat to Mr BAINTON. and did prech in the Church Sabbath days and what is called saints days – and the people did flock together for to hear him and was much taken with him at first.

However there was two or three of Mr WESTLEYs people that was som of the strongest against Election in their meeting. But the Lord soon convinced them of their errors and was made to drink in the truth of the gospel and they soon got acquainted with the minister – and then he tuck a room to meet the people for to expound the scriptures unto them – and the people did much idlelise the man. But the lord saw fit to take him from this place for wise ends in the space of one year – this Mr COLLINGS preached the gospel at the time tho he soon went from it, after he went from ROAD. But after that he was gon the people was at a great lost for a minister. But there was two poor working men JOSEPH CLIFT and RICHARD his brother that came from WESTBURY and did abode at ROAD. of the Baptist pers was one and the people gote them to speak Wednesdays come at Seven a Clock from a pasage of the scriptures – and Lord Days there were three of Mr CLARKs people of TROWBRIDGE did come and preach half past five in the evening in the turus and this continued for a little time if it was atended with people very well. But the ministers from TROWBRIDGE did not continue long and when these men had left us we was at a lost again – and then we had RICHARD BRITAN and THOMAS HOPKINS from FROME and the people do much approve of Mr HOPKINS. Well it pleased the Lord to call away him to the DEVIZES to Mr SLOPERs meeting and then we was deprived of a minister again and what to do we could not tell at last we thought on one of the poor men that was here when MR COLLINGS went away from us and we was deswaded that he had the love at his heart. Well we sent for him and he had a call from the church and then came to us and we had one of BRADFORD and both of them were Baptised and they preached several year to us, But did not peach Baptism to the people because they would not prosalite the people to their opinion, but was led by the spirit to see it was an ordinance of the lord and they met together and agreed to be baptised there was eleven of us baptised April 21 1783.”

A Short History of Baptist and Methodist Witness in Rode

(extract from A History of the Established Church in Rode by Brian Foyston, 2007)

1. The prosperity of the woollen industry in Road in the 18th C and its concentration within the local mills appears to have been the keystone around which the foundations of local Non-conformist witness was built. Throughout the land there was a growing degree of disenchantment with the Established Church, which extended even to some of the genteel classes. Significant numbers of the Clergy appeared to pay little attention to the problems of their parishioners, preferring to live contentedly on the income they derived from their glebe lands and the tithes they drew from those who worked the fields and woods. Meantime their duties were carried out by a succession of poorly paid young curates, often the younger sons of the gentry (who saw the Priesthood as the natural and respected refuge for younger sons who could not inherit). The living conditions of these young men were often poor and sometimes wretched, indeed on occasion little if any better than those of the working class families they were supposed to serve.

2. The change from home spinning and weaving to the factory environment of the mills also meant the gathering together in close proximity of many previously independent (albeit impoverished) working men and women. These no longer felt their modest destiny to be in their own hands, but did find an unspoken wish amongst their toiling fellows to strive for a better life and with more simply and fundamentally expressed religious aspirations.

3. These sentiments were often not welcome to the well-to-do, who felt alarm at them as harbingers of political unrest, anxious lest they should bring instability similar to that brewing on the mainland of Europe. Wide-spread riots in the 1760s due to the introduction of machinery to the mills, and because wages had not been adjusted to compensate for rises in the basic cost of living due to frequent bad harvests, did nothing to ease the concerns of the upper classes. Those of the gentry who had a more liberal attitude were quite rare.

4. It is against this background that a wide range of Non-conformist groups sprang up. After some spluttering starts and stops, however, only two came to maturity in Road, and, whilst this is not a religious tract, a short outline of the two beliefs is worth setting out.

THE BAPTISTS

5. There was an earlier and important and basic development which brought the Baptist belief into being, one which had developed as a result of the Reformation. On the continent scholars such as Martin Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, as a result of intense biblical study, challenged the existing doctrine of the Roman Church. Consequently widespread groupings of believers began to emerge, who had been able to study scripture and who accepted the thinking of these great scholars and their like. In England similar groupings were to emerge later, and these developed into a separatist movement. The members of this movement, despite intense persecution, considered that changes must be made to the then accepted doctrine. These changes included the acceptance of the importance and authority of scripture, which was then becoming available in English ( at first against the wishes of the Establishment), – that baptism into the Church should be for adult candidates only (and by total immersion as was the New Testament practice) and that the authority of each fellowship of believers should be that of Holy Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and not that of any central, over-riding body. From these groupings the first two leaders of the Baptist worship and belief emerged – John Smyth, a Church of England vicar, who was chastised for his beliefs, and Thomas Helwys, a prominent layman who had extensive legal training. Because of persecution many separatists, including Smyth and Helwys, fled to Holland, where the first English-speaking Baptist fellowship was established about 1612 AD. Helwys then returned to England and presented a copy of the text of his understanding of religious freedom The Mystery of Iniquity to King James I. He was clapped into prison and died there in 1616. Despite this and continuing persecution Baptist Churches started to form all over England; inevitably differences of belief developed amongst them, mainly that of pre-destination, some became known as General Baptists and others Particular Baptists.

6. By the mid-1700s the Baptists (and Methodists also for that matter) were meeting in Road, usually in members’ homes, for Bible reading, prayer and the singing of hymns, and it is believed the original Baptist meeting place was what is now No. 43, High Street, opposite the Chapel. But, as numbers grew, so the need for larger and more permanent places of worship became more pressing. Some of the oldest Baptist Churches in the West of England were Broadmead (Bristol) 1640, Kilmington (Devon) and nearby Southwick 1655. In 1786 Road Baptists, led by the brothers Joseph and Richard Clift, who had arrived from Westbury Leigh to find work at Shawford Mill,. built the Baptist Chapel where it still stands in the High Street (It is believed that Mr. Len Clift of Westbury is a direct descendant and as a Lay Preacher he leads worship in the Chapel even now on occasion). The land for this building was probably given by a well-wisher. In 1790 John Mathews became the local Pastor until 1816. A Sunday Schoolroom followed (Schools are dealt with separately). Open air Baptisms continued and W. W. Wheatley painted a well-known picture of one taking place at Road Bridge c.1853 and an engraving of it hangs in the Baptist Chapel to this day. It has been said that the last open air full immersion Baptism was on 3rd September, 1901.

7. We have an excellent contemporary account of the arrival of a new Pastor:

“A service of recognition in connection with the settlement of the Rev. T. Smith took place at the Baptist Chapel Road on Thursday 12th, December 1867. The Chapel was very tastefully decorated, with evergreens for the occasion and a banner was placed over the Pulpit with the inscription on it ‘Peace be within these walls and prosperity within Thy Palace’. About 120 sat down to an excellent tea after which the recognition service took place. Mr. Davis of Bath occupied the Chair and made a few remarks upon the nature and constitution of the gospel church after which Mr. Morgan junior gave a brief history of the rise and progress of the church in the year 1783 together with the circumstances which led them to invite Mr. Smith to take on the Pastorship of the Church. Mr. Smith was then called upon to address the meeting and having alluded to the solemn and responsible yet pleasant position he was about to occupy as Pastor of an old church where so many good men had laboured and laboured with success in gathering wanderers into the fold of Christ he proceeded to give them an epitome of his conversion and call to the Ministry and the circumstances which led him to accept the hearty and unanimous call of the Church to labour in their midst. The Rev. G. W. Rodway of North Bradley gave the charge to the Minister which was solemn, judicious and eminently calculated (if acted upon) to promote peace and prosperity in the Church. Mr. Parsons of Woolverton next addressed the church and congregation in a bold masterly and energetic manner and his faithful cautious councils will not soon be forgotten. After singing and prayer the meeting was brought to a close. A new harmonium has recently been placed in the Chapel and was used for the first time on this occasion.”

8. Regrettably, by the 1880s however, the woollen trade had seriously declined and congregations began to decline also.

THE METHODISTS

9. The name “Methodist” was first given to a group of Oxford students in the early 1700s, because of the regularity of their lives and studies and they were followers of the Wesley brothers. John Wesley, brother of Charles, was born in 1703 and became a Fellow of Lincoln College in 1726. He became a convert to Christianity in 1738, and was ordained in the Church of England, but in 1739 he began his life of open-air preaching, which was to have such immense impact on religious life in England. He travelled the length and breadth of the land on horseback expounding his views on simplicity in life allied to a strong belief in proper conduct as a basis for salvation to any one who would listen. As they said of him “Many came to scoff but remained to pray”.

He preached in Road on four occasions; on 23rd September 1746, 23rd March 1749, 12th September, 1780 and 13th September 1781. On one of the later visits he is supposed to have spoken in the grounds of the earlier Barrow House and on another from the steps of the old market cross (in front of where Ivy House now stands), but it was on the first that he spoke under the walnut tree at Townsend. When the tree was cut down some of the wood was preserved, and in 1946 Captain W. S. Batten Pooll presented a piece of the wood to the Methodist Church in the form of a tablet bearing the following inscription:

“This block presented by Captain W. S. Batten Pooll, JP, DL. was cut from the bole of a walnut tree which stood at Townsend and under which the Rev. John Wesley, MA preached. It was placed in this Chapel in Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of his first visit to Rode September 1946.”

The tablet, which was fixed to the wall over the pulpit, is now in the village Methodist Day School.

10. In 1809 the Methodists had as happened in other villages, built their own Chapel on a very small piece of land given to them by a local landowner and this in turn was followed by their own school in 1859.

MORE RECENT DAYS

11. Both Baptists and Methodists prospered and were strongly involved in the Temperance and other social movements locally (again recorded separately). However the decline in the profitability of the woollen industry, already mentioned above, in the later years of the nineteenth century meant that workers had to move elsewhere for employment. Numbers attending both Baptist and Methodist Chapel services dwindled and by 1950 the two could barely muster 30 members between. them; a hundred years earlier the Baptist chapel alone had been 145 strong.

12. In the 1970s the struggling Baptist Churches of Westbury, Bratton, Rudge and Rode formed a local fellowship with oversight from the Rev. William Cook. But as the Westbury and Bratton churches grew the fellowship broke up and the Rudge Church was closed. In 1985 the Rev. Cook and the Methodist Circuit Superintendent of the time negotiated with their respective authorities the amalgamation of the two fellowships. The selling of the Rode Methodist Church was, arranged whilst the Baptist Trustees retained the Baptist building where the joint fellowship now met and does so still. By 1989 the Rev. Peter Slee of the Southwick Baptist Church had joint oversight of the Chapel with Rev. Marsh of Frome Methodist Church; at this time considerable damage was done to the Chapel due to a gale (which amongst other things destroyed most of the records of the fellowship), and as a result the Services had to be held in the Methodist Day School In order to raise money to repair and update the premises the Rev. Slee persuaded the authorities to sell the Baptist schoolroom and the Charity commission was persuaded to release some of the money raised by the sale of the Rudge Church.

13. The refurbished building was completed in 1992, when in July the building was re-opened and this was accompanied by the induction of Roy Lidbetter as Pastor to the fellowship. The attendance has increased since then and non-conformist witness in this village not only survives but prospers, with a welcome and progressing relationship of worship with the local Established Church.

B. C. Foyston

Above: Photos of memorials in the Baptist Chapel, Rode

Below: A transcript of gravestone at Rode Chapel – some letters have been added where the text on the gravestone is missing.

IN A WALLED GRAVE BENEATH THIS STONE ARE DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF ANN WIFE OF JOSEPH ROSE AND ELDEST DAUGHTER OF THE LATE JONATHAN NOAD ESQRE OF ROCKABELLA HOUSE IN THIS PLACE DIED MARCH (?) 1828 AGED 64 YEARS ALSO OF THE (?) INFANT CHILDREN OF JOSEPH AND SARAH WALKER OF BRISTOL AND GRANDCHILDREN OF THE ABOVE WHO DIED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1832 AND 1842 ALSO OF ANNIE THE DAUGHTER OF THOMAS WHITTAKER ROSE AND GRANDCHILD OF THE ABOVE ANN ROSE WHO DIED FEBY 1844 AGED 5 YEARS ALSO OF SARAH WIFE OF THOMAS WHITTAKER ROSE DIED MARCH 1ST 1851 AGED 44 YEARS ALSO OF SARAH WIFE OF JOSEPH FORD WALKER DIED AUGUST 26TH 1851 AGED 49 YEARS ALSO OF JOSEPH ROSE DIED MAY 26TH 1852 AGED 77 YEARS ALSO OF JOSEPH FORD WALKER DIED APRIL 3RD 1853 AGED 61 YEARS ALSO OF ANN NOAD ROSE DAUGHTER OF THE ABOVE JOSEPH AND ANN ROSE DIED JULY 10TH 1867 AGED 62 YEARS

THIS STONE WAS PLACED HERE AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT FOR THE MEMORY OF TWO BELOVED PARENTS AND OTHER DEAR RELATIVES BY THOMAS WHITTAKER ROSE OF BATH OCTOBER 1861

Rode Baptist Chapel Monumental Inscriptions (Somerset & Dorset Family History Society, 2007)

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS OF RODE BAPTIST CHAPEL SOMERSET

40 memorials, 1828 – 2004

(Queries checked with Chapel Registers 1787 – 1979, at Somerset Record Office. Recorded, typed and indexed by Sir Mervyn Medlycott, 2007. Copies to: Somerset & Dorset Family History Society (MI Index. Electronic copy only). Somerset & Dorset Family History Society (Library). Somerset Record Office, Taunton. Frome Library. Society of Genealogists Library, London. Rode Chapel Secretary. Sir Mervyn Medlycott.)

RODE BAPTIST CHAPEL MIs: SURNAME INDEX (numbers of memorials, not pages)

ASHLEY: 6

BIGGS: 30

BLISSETT: 37

BRAY: 6

CARTER: 2, 10, 11 & 31

CHENEY: 38

CLEMENT: 18

DERHAM: 25, 26 & 35

EAVIS: 22

FRICKER: 13

GOULTER: 8

GREENHILL: 10, 14 & 15

HOLLINGSWORTH: 4

KEEVIL: 34

KINGTON: 23 & 28

MILLETT: 12

MOORE: 3, 19 & 37

MORGAN: 17

MOULD: 39

NEWMAN: 36

NORTON: 5

OSBORNE: 1 & 13

PACKER: 24

PARSONS: 9

PICKARD: 1, 3 & 10

PIKE: 32

ROSE: 16

STACEY: 4, 20-22 & 40

WALKER: 16

WATTS, Watt: 7 & 27

WILSON: 32 & 33

WINDELL: 29

(for most post-1837 memorials exact wording is not given on stones, but genealogical abstracts, giving all information in a concise form. Exact wording is however given for all pre-1837 and some other chapelyard, and all chapel interior memorials, which are in double inverted commas, in most instances with obliques ‘/’ indicating the ends of lines).

Rode Baptist Chapel was opened in 1786, according to a datestone on the west elevation, being a most attractive Georgian building, though much modernised inside. The chapel was extensively repaired in the 1980s, from funds received when the Rudge Baptist Chapel closed.

After Rode Methodist Chapel recently closed, the two congregations have amalgamated here, as the chapel treasurer informed me in August 2007. The former Rode Methodist Chapel is being converted into a private house (in 2007). I checked with the owner, but he informed me there are no memorials there.

I have not prepared a burial plot plan of the chapelyard.

Memorials astericked * are also recorded in the chapel records, at Somerset Record Office DD/X/MRS 4, section 8. These chapel records include a burial register for 1787-1979.

Robert Dainton in 2006 recorded chapelyard memorials and these were, for a time, now removed, given on website: WWW.gomezsmart.free-online.co.uk/religion/rodebcmi.htm. I have checked and improved on his copies in 2007. He made some errors and left some people out, and also omitted four memorials.

All legible memorial have been recorded to 2007.

The chapel is not exactly aligned east/west, but is south of east and north of west, but has been put here for clarity as east/west, as if the village street is due west of the chapel.

CHAPEL INTERIOR

1)* White on black marble Tablet on south wall. In memory of / John PICKARD / who departed this life / September 21st 1871 / aged 63 years / Also Ann, wife of the above / John Pickard / who died March 22nd 1863 / aged 49 years / Also Ezitt, daughter of the / above John & Ann Pickard / who died November 22nd 1850 / aged 9 years / Also of George OSBORNE / who died April 16th 1859 / aged 75 years / Also Ann, wife of the above / George Osborne / who died April 17th 1859 / aged 78 years.

2)* White on black marble Tablet on north wall. In memory of / Jane, the beloved wife of Joseph CARTER / who departed this life Octr: 11th 1858, aged 28 / Edward James, their son, died Feby: 1st 1858 / aged 6 months / Also in loving memory of Jane Greenhill / second wife of the above Joseph Carter / who died February 14th 1886, aged 63 years / Also of the above Joseph Carter / who died Jany: 24th 1908, aged 83 years / Also of Annie Agnes, daughter of the above / who died May 19th 1911, aged 47.

3)* White on black marble Tablet on north wall. In memory of Charlotte / the belovd wife of James PICKARD / who died January 2nd 1865, aged 61 years / Also of their children, as follows: / Edmund Pickard / who died February 9th 1837, aged 1 year / Elizabeth Pickard / who died March 21st 1837, aged 11 years / Edmund Pickard / who died October 11th 1838, aged 14 weeks / John Pickard / who died October 31st 1845, aged 17 years / Also of the above named / James Pickard / who died October 16th 1880, aged 77 years / Also of Mary Porter, widow of / the late John MOORE, of Trowbridge / and second wife of the above James Pickard / who died January 31st 1897, aged 78 years.

CHAPELYARD

West side of the Chapel (that is between the chapel and the village street)

4). Headstone. Daphne Joy HOLLINGSWORTH, nee STACEY, born 18 Feb 1927, at Rode, died 28 Sept 1994, at Marlow.

5). Headstone. Samuel NORTON, first Superintendent of adjoining Sunday School for 13 years, died 9 Dec 1849, aged 56. And his wife, Catherine, died 3 Nov 1862, at Gloucester, aged 70. Also their eldest son, Samuel Norton, 35 years Headmaster of the British School, Gloucester, many years Deacon of the Congregational Church and for some time one of the Councillors of the City, born 19 Aug 1816, died 8 Sept 1897.

North side of the Chapel

6). Headstone (surmounted by a cross). Sarah, wife of William BRAY, died 15 Feb 1867, aged 62. And her grandson, Albert O. ASHLEY, died 9 July 1867, aged 13 months.

7). Small Headstone (very worn, first person is illegible). Elizabeth WATTS, died July.., aged 83 (year illegible, could be 1849, but very uncertain. However chapel register did not give her 1830-60. Perhaps the stone is earlier).

8). Headstone (partly flaked). John GOULTER, died 4 April 1869, aged 82. And his wife, Diana, died 1 July 1862, aged ?. (age flaked, chapel register as aged 75). Also their sons: James Goulter, died 13 Sept 1846, aged ?3 (part of age flaked, chapel register: not buried here), Charles Goulter, died 28 March 1895, aged 70 and Henry Goulter, died 6 Feb 1898, aged 83. And Ann, wife of the above Charles Goulter, died 21 Nov 1914, aged 88.

East side of the Chapel

9). Coped Stone. On west slope (flaking): Mary, wife of James Dyer PARSONS, of Woolverton, died 26 July 1863, aged 43. And their daughter, Jane Greenhill Parsons, died 1 Nov 1850, aged 4 years. Also their daughter, Sarah Parsons, died 24 Feb ? (the year and age have flaked, but Dainton gave the year as 1851, which had not flaked when he viewed this in July 2006. Chapel register gives her as Sarah Parsons buried 28 Feb 1851, aged 8 months). On east slope: Richard Parsons, son of James Dyer and Mary Parsons, died 27 Feb 1875, aged 34. And Elizabeth, wife of James Dyer Parsons, died 1 April 1875, aged 31. Also Herbert James, son of the above (presumably James Dyer and Elizabeth), died 10 Nov 1869, aged 14 weeks.

10). Chest Tomb (right-hand east panel is blank). Left-hand east panel: The children of James and Charlotte PICKARD, of this parish: Edmund, died 9 February 1837, aged 1 year and 9 months; Elizabeth, died 21 March 1837, aged 11 years and 6 months, and Edmund, died 11 Oct 1838, aged 14 weeks. Left-hand west panel: Charlotte Pickard, died 2 Jan 1865, aged 61. And her husband, James Pickard, died 16 Oct 1880, aged 77. Also his second wife, Mary Porter Pickard, died 31 Jan 1897, aged 78. Right-hand west panel: And their son, John (so it continues from the last panel), died 31 Oct 1845, aged 17 years. And Jane, wife of Joseph CARTER, and daughter of James and Charlotte Pickard, died 11 Oct 1858, aged 28. Also their son, Edward James Carter, died 1 Feb 1858, aged 6 months. South panel: Cary Ernest, son of Edward and Elizabeth Carter, of Farleigh Castle, born 30 June 1865, died 8 June 1867. North panel: George William Pickard, son of George and Emma GREENHILL, of Earl Stoke, born 14 June 1878, died 3 July 1879.

11). Headstone. Joseph Job CARTER, died 24 June 1908, aged 83. And his wife, Jane Greenhill Carter, died 14 Feb 1886, aged 63. Also their daughter, Annie Agnes Carter, died 19 May 1911, aged 47.

12). Headstone (surmounted by a cross). Mary Ann MILLETT, died 6 July 1837, aged 17 years. And Thomas Millett, died 26 Sept 1863, aged 33. Also their mother, Charlotte Millett, died 24 May 1868, aged 67.

13). Headstone (in two columns), within high iron railings. Left-hand column: To / the memory of / Edmund OSBORNE / son of George and / Ann Osborne, who / died Octr: 9th 1830 / aged 3 years & 7 months. Right-hand column: Also / Emma FRICKER / daughter of Jonathan / & Catharine Fricker / died March 1st 1837 / aged 3 years / Also Edmund, their son / died May 20th 1838 / aged 1 year & 9 months / Also Catharine, wife / of Jonathan Fricker / & daughter of George / & Ann Osborne, who / departed this life Feby: / 26th 1852, aged 45 years / And of the said / Jonathan Fricker / who died April 7th 1853 / aged 49 years.

South side of the Chapel

(recorded in rows from north to south)

14). Headstone. John GREENHILL, of Manor Farm, Tellisford, died 16 Dec 1888, aged 70. And his wife, Elizabeth, died 26 Aug 1892, aged 71.

15). Dismantled slate Chest Tomb. A portion of a side panel with inscriptions is on one site, on top of the other side panel, which is presumably illegible, but immoveable, whilst one of the end panels has been set in the ground close by, looking like a flatstone. The top slab, with no inscription, is lying on the ground close by, presumably on the site of the grave. On side panel, left-hand portion (much of the inscription is missing): . of / ..(Gre)enhill / . this life / .. 1853 / ? years (chapel register as Mrs: Ann Greenhill buried 9 Oct 1853, aged 40). On side panel, right-hand portion: Benjamin / son of / Richard & Jane GREENHILL / died Sept: 14th 1860 / aged 49 years / Also in memory of / Ann, relict of Benjamin Greenhill / who died September 20th 1884 / aged 85 years. On end panel (flat on ground): Jane Greenhill, died 3 June 1866, aged 75.

16). Large slightly-rounded Ledger Stone (portion flaked at the head end in the middle). In a walled gra(ve) ?.(bene)ath this stone / are deposi(ted the) . (remai)ns of Ann / wif(e of) (Ro)se / and e(ldest?) ..(th)e late / Jo.. Esqre: / of Rocka.. in this place / died Marc(h) aged 64 years / Also of th..(inf)ant children / of Joseph and .. WALKER, of Bristol / and grandch(ildren) . of the above / who died between (the) years 1832 and 1842 / Also of Annie, the daughter of / Thomas Whittaker ROSE / and grandchild of the above Ann Rose / who died Feby: 1844, aged five and a half years / Also of Sarah, wife of / Thomas Whittaker Rose / died March 1st 1851, aged 44 years / Also of Sarah, wife of / Joseph Ford Walker / died August 26th 1851, aged 49 years / Also of Joseph Rose / died May 26th 1852, aged 77 years / Also of Joseph Ford Walker / died April 3rd 1853, aged 61 years / Also of Ann Noad Rose / daughter of the above Joseph & Ann Rose / died July 10th 1867, aged 62 years / This stone was placed here / as a token of respect for the memory / of two beloved parents and other dear relatives / by Thomas Whittaker Rose, of Bath / October 1861 (chapel register: the first person identified as Mrs: Ann Rose buried 16 March 1828, aged 64. The Annie Rose for 1844 is given as ?. Rose buried 25 Feb 1844, aged 5).

17)* Headstone. In loving memory of / James MORGAN / who died July 20, 1887 / aged 82 years / for many years Deacon of this church / Also Celia, wife of the above / who died Nov: 8, 1835 / aged 30 years / Also Thomas, son of the above / who died Dec: 5, 1830 / aged 4 years / Also of Mary, second wife of the above / James Morgan / who died Sep: 11, 1872 / aged 77 years / Also of James Morgan, son of the above / died April 30, 1920, aged 87.

18). Headstone. Lydia CLEMENT, died 12 Aug 1899, at Bishopstone, Sussex, aged 40. And Alfred Clement, died 11 March 1907, aged 82. Also his wife, Celia Clement, died 4 June 1915, aged 86.

19)* Headstone. In memory of / John MOORE / who died Feby: 6th 1876 / aged 49 years / Also of / Sarah Greenhill / wife of the above / who died Jany: 19th 1876 / aged 40.

20). Headstone. John STACEY, born 8 July 1925, at Worthy Farm, Pilton, died 2 May 2004, at The Cot, Pilton.

21). Headstone. Peter STACEY, born 24 March 1924, at Worthy Farm, Pilton, died 17 May 1997, at Parry Sound, Ontario.

22). Headstone. Frank Newman STACEY, born 9 June 1899, at Street, died 15 Nov 1981. And Nellie Portnell Stacey, nee EAVIS, born 2 March 1899, at Pilton, died 14 March 1984.

23). Headstone (whole inscription flaked off in two large pieces, but quite legible). Ellen KINGTON, died 5 July 1907, aged 75. And her husband, Isaac Lane Kington, died 27 Jan 1911, aged 76.

24). Headstone. Our parents Mary Ann PACKER, died 26 Jan 1916, aged 82, and John Packer, died 19 Aug 1922, aged 88.

25). Headstone and kerb. Annie DERHAM, died 13 Feb 1916, aged 44. And her husband, Walter Derham, died 1 Aug 1936, aged 73.

26). Kerb. Agnes DERHAM, died 23 Jan 1944, aged 83.

27). Kerb. Edwin William WATT (damaged, date has flaked. Chapel register as Edwin WATTS buried 7 Aug 1945, aged 51).

28). Sloping Stone and kerb (recorded together). Wife and mother Clara Frances KINGTON, died 18 April 1949, aged 75. And her husband, Roland James Kington, died 29 April 1959, aged 88. Also Florence May Kington, died 13 Jan 1990, aged 89.

29). Sloping Stone and kerb. Simon WINDELL, died 5 Oct 1930, aged 83. And his wife, Eliza Windell, died 19 April 1934, aged 78.

30). Headstone and kerb. Arthur BIGGS, died 14 May 1935, aged 75. And his wife, Emma Biggs, died 11 April 1942, aged 76. Also their children, Mabel Agnes, died 2 Dec 1912, aged 18, and Henry George, killed in action 31 July 1917.

31). Headstone. Sarah CARTER, died 6 Aug 1879, aged 35. And her husband, George Carter, died 25 July 1918, aged 80. Also their son, Ernest Edward, born 23 June 1878, died 1 March 1880. And Emily Jane, second wife of the above George Carter, died 5 Jan 1926, aged 83.

32). Two Headstones within the same kerb. On first headstone: Hester Morrison PIKE, born 26 Feb 1835, died 29 Sept 1906. And my father Edwin WILSON, died 9 Dec 1914, aged 77. Also Mary Wilson, born 25 Nov 1877, died 12 Oct 1882. On second headstone: Henry Wilson, died 17 Oct 1863, aged 74. And his wife, Mary Greenhill Wilson, died 27 March 1895, aged 97. Also Mabel Louise, daughter of John and Louisa PIKE, died 19 Sept 1886, aged 14 months. And Harriet Wilson, died 8 July 1917, aged 88.

33). Headstone (lying on the ground face-upwards). Louisa, wife of Edwin WILSON, died 29 (sic) Feb 1884, in her 55th year (chapel register as Louisa Wilson buried 5 March 1884, aged 55). And their children, died in infancy (all their names have flaked): ? died 11 June 1866, ? died 10 Jan 1869, ? died 23 March 1870, and ?. died 20 July 1871 (chapel register respectively as: Mary Louisa Wilson buried 13 June 1866, aged 1 month; John Edward, son of Edward (sic) and Louisa Wilson buried 27 Jan 1869, aged 24 months; Rosena Jane, daughter of Edward (sic) and Louisa Wilson, buried 26 Feb 1870, aged 5 weeks, and Rosanna Jane Wilson buried 5 Aug 1871, aged 6 months).

34). Headstone (surmounted by a cross). Henry KEEVIL, died 23 Oct 1872, aged 62. And his sons, Alphaeus, died 17 April 1872, aged 36 and Simon, died 18 Aug 1867, aged 24 (chapel register gives the first of these as Alphis Keevil aged 37). Also Rachel, wife of Henry Keevil, died 9 Oct 1883, aged 72.

35). Sloping Stone and kerb. Wife and mother Annie DERHAM, died 15 Aug 1958, aged 81. And her husband, Herbert George Derham, died 15 Feb 1960, aged 86.

36). Headstone and kerb. Our dear parents Frederick NEWMAN, died 24 Jan 1950, aged 70, and Alice Newman, died 18 April 1964, aged 85.

37). Sloping Stone and kerb. Frederick Sidney BLISSETT, died 1 Aug 1943, aged 69. And his daughter, Alexandra May MOORE, died 14 July 1969, aged 67.

38). Headstone. Mum and Dad Annie Tamar Nancy CHENEY, 1902 – 1996 and Albert Edward Cheney, 1902 – 1984.

39). Headstone. Janet MOULD, 1902 – 1996.

40). Headstone. Paul STACEY, teacher, born 1932, at Rode, died 1998.

Details of burials and graveyard records can be downloaded here: