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| The lych gate opening into the churchyard was erected in 1921, in memory of the Reverend George Venables Oddie who was rector of Aston for 42 years. It was he who restored the church in 1883 and built a
parochial hall as a memorial of Queen Victoria's first Jubilee in 1888. Local people contributed to the cost and the hall was built on to the school house in Aston End Road by local craftsmen.
In medieval days however, the lych gate served another purpose. 'Lych' is the Old English word for a dead body. At the lych gate the coffin was rested on a wooden table while the priest said part of the burial service. As only rich people could afford to be buried in a coffin, the poor were brought to the church in a parish coffin usually carried on the parish bier, and then taken out and wrapped in a sheet for burial directly into the ground. |
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Revised: July 22, 2007 . |
