St Michael's Church, Stoke

Thanks, Rob, for checking. Attached is an earlier map (1887) from old-maps.co.uk (http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html), a valuable source if you're not aware of it. Curious that St. Michael's Church is labelled St. Chad's Church. I'll have to check the history to see why. Cheers Barry

I've wondered that myself, but I've just checked again in that late 1800s history book, and it simply states in the introductory pages that; "Stoke church is an ancient stone edifice, erected in the 13th century, and dedicated to St. Chad." I can find no other reference. It'll be interesting to find out.

Rob, all that I can deduce is from two Old Maps images. The church was described as St. Chad's in 1906, and St. Michael's in 1913. Any rededication seems to have happened in the intervening years.

Hi all. I was just wondering if anyone knew the date of the earliest burial at Stoke St Michael's? I was there over the weekend to look in on my grandparents and we wondered when the earliest one was. Earliest we saw was 1806 but I'm sure there must be many before that. Cheers.

AD, the parish register on Ancestry starts in 1574 for burials and I think there would have been burials before that. I am sure that it was about that time that they were required to keep records. The church was extended in 1822. One of my ancestors Joseph Harwar died in 1722 and the website for the church mentions that a vault was found in 1992 when they were rebuilding the floor that they think was his vault. It says it would have been outside the church before 1822. It sounds very much like some of the graveyard was built over when the extension was done.

Thanks Annewiggy. Sorry for the late reply - I've been away.

One of the gravestones at Stoke St Michael's near the path to the left as you face the porch had this inscription, which now could be, possibly, indecipherable: "All you who come my grave to see, avoid damp beds and think of me."