Introduction

The gravestones of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

A survey undertaken in 1978 by the pupils of Stratford-upon-Avon
Grammar School for Girls (now Stratford Girls' Grammar School),
with a subsequent independent photographic survey

The majority of gravestones in the churchyard of Holy Trinity, mainly dating from the 18th and 19th century, are conventional standing stones, some with shaped tops and varying degrees of carved ornamentation, and crosses. There are also table tombs, plus those which might be described as lower variations of same. In some instances these are little more than slightly raised ledger stones. In addition there are a few pedestal and obelisk style monuments, mostly of relatively small or medium height, with one or two notable exceptions.

In 1978 the pupils of Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls (now Stratford Girls' Grammar School) undertook a survey of the inscriptions on approximately 600 gravestones in the churchyard. It was a remarkable achievement, and much of the information would have been lost if this work had not been carried out at that time, since there has been a subsequent appreciable deterioration in the legibility of many of the inscriptions.

In 2009/10 an independent photographic record was made of all extant stones, with the aim of matching the images to the appropriate grave in the survey.

If you are hoping to find a particular name, start with the Index of surnames, which lists all those that were legible in 1978. The original plans for the various sections of the churchyard which the girls produced for their survey appear under Section plan, slightly tidied up for presentation purposes. However, anyone seeking to find a specific headstone should regard these plans as providing only a general indication of grave locations, since there is a certain amount of disparity in the relative positions of groups of stones. Hopefully the additional check of the photographs and accompanying notes will give further assistance, and taking note of names which appear on nearby graves may also help. Section H, to the river side of the main walkway to the church, is particularly problematic, since it covers such a large area.

Not all of the cross-identifications of record and photograph will be correct. It was sometimes a matter of making an informed guess using additional details provided in the survey - 'moss covered', 'illegible' - alongside the suggested locations on the plan. A number of the stones recorded in the 1978 survey were missing by the time the photography was undertaken, and more have disappeared since - but some have found their way into the kerbing around the churchyard, which in some areas has been created from broken gravestones, and significant runs of such kerbing have therefore been given their own section for the sake of interest. A large number of the graves in section D were unaccountably omitted from the original survey. This has been indicated in the associated information, and efforts were made to record those details which remained legible in 2019.

It is understood that a copy of the original handwritten survey was given to the church, but a further copy of the original can be consulted on the open shelves of the library of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, (library reference DR467), alongside a printed version of the contents of this website, (library reference DR467/2).

This website now draws together information distilled from the survey plus the photographic record.