St Mary the Virgin, East Barnet - Churchyard Monuments

St Mary the Virgin, East Barnet churchyard contains some interesting monuments, including a couple of unusual ones and a goodly number of massive chest tombs. While the Church itself has been somewhat eclipsed by the newer church at High Barnet, for outdoor tombs in the area, this is the place to visit. It is semi-wild, evocative, and explorable.

We may note:

Baronet Simon Haughton Clarke monument.

• Baronet Simon Haughton Clarke, d.1832, the largest monument in the Churchyard, a Gothic structure of three stages raised on steps: the lowest one with cusped panels bearing the inscriptions, then a windowed storey with shields of arms, then an ogee dome with much crocketing and little carved heads, nicely medieval in spirit and reminiscent of the Eleanor crosses. A real asset.

  

  John Sharpe, d.1756.

• John Sharpe, d.1756, Solicitor to the Treasury, an egg-shaped urn under a heavy canopy decorated with attached carvings of small drapes, resting on a blocky chest tomb and surrounded by railings.

  

  Casket and tomb chests.

• There really are a good collection of chest tombs, including this grand piece, decorated with festoons of carved flowers, upturned torches to indicate life snuffed out at the corners, anthemion patterns above on ther corners, and pediment-shaped lid bearing the crest of arms and crossed branches. The Lawson tomb chest, up next to the Church wall, is a low tomb chest with a cross on the lid, an a patterned edging making fine shadows. Some of these tomb chests are in various states of dilapidation, a shame, but allowing the viewer to understand the construction of such monuments, typically with a brik lining and hollow interior.

  

  The pyramid tomb.

• A rare pyramid monument: while the 18th Century enthusiasm for Egyptian architecture was immense, and the obelisk found widespread use in churchyard and cemetery, actual pyramid monuments are unusual. I could not decipher the worn name or inscription on the side.

  

  The five Grove family obelisks.

• Five short obelisks to the Grove family, 1750s-1819, with the inscriptions underneath, and carved winged cherub heads. Their initials and dates are carved much more prominently in the rear of each monument.

• Thomas Wyatt of Willenhall, d.1834, and his wife Elizabeth Willenhall, d.1867, a good casket tomb, thus a varient of the normal tomb chest or chest tomb, which is block shaped, by angling out the sides, and with a 'lid' of varying degrees of elaboration. Sometimes casket tombs rest on little feet, but they are heavy, so solid bases, as found here with a stepped base, may be preferred. Next to it is one of the footed variety - I could not read the inscription - and this rests on lion's feet, which are a usual type for 18th Century pieces. The Wyatt tomb is accompanied by a panel inside the Church.

  

  Wooden headboards, 18th Century panel with cherub head and skulls.

• Wooden headboard monuments: two survive standing up, their inscriptions worn away, and a third lies decaying on the ground. Such less expensive monuments, common in 19th Century prints of church surroundings, have largely perished today, and these are worth preserving.

  

  George Prevost Bt, d.1816, Governor of Canada.

• General George Prevost monument, not really a tomb chest but more of a table tomb with a thin vertical centre: such monuments, supported on free standing pillars, the legs of the table, have not survived well, mostly due to the thoughtful attentions of barbaric local councils knocking them over in fear of some local immolating himself through lying underneath and the structure then collapsing on top of him. The vertical segment here seems to anticipate this concern and the monument happily has been left standing. Baronet Prevost, who died in 1816, successfully defended Canada against conquest by the USA, and he has an inscribed panel inside the Church.

• Several good examples of 18th Century headstones with winged cherub heads, and a couple with skulls or deaths heads (see picture of one such a little higher up this page).

  A fair sample of different types of cross. Examples below, another at the top of this page. If you like such things, this website has a whole page of them here.

  

  Headstones with crosses.

  More to see inside the Church on this page.

  St Mary the Virgin, East Barnet's website is at https://stmaryseastbarnet.org.