Monument record MDR10545 - Churchyard, St Werburgh's Church, Spondon, Derby

A DCC file contains a note by Spondon Historical Society quoting James R Makin, 1895," Report on Charities" (of Spondon). Resulting from Local Government Act 1894, page 69:- "I have frequently heard it stated that part of the present vicarage garden which lies to the west of the church tower, and extends almost as far as the vicarage porch, was originally part of the churchyard, but that years ago it was enclosed with the existing brick wall, and converted into a garden as we now know it. A glance at its situation, and at the elm trees on the southern boundary, which are evidently a continuation of those in the churchyard is sufficient to convince an enquirer that for once a fact has been correctly handed down by village rumour." (1) St Werburgh's Church (SMR 18920) was built in the 14th century on the site of a previous church, and restored in 1892. Mapping of the western extent of the churchyard is conjectural and based on the suggestion by Authority 1. (2) Spondon, St Werburgh's Church. Archaeological evaluation and a watching brief were carried out by Trent & Peak Archaeological Unit in 2002/3 on the site of an extension to the vestry. Although first mentioned in Domesday book, the dedication to a 7th century Mercian princess, and the existence of an Anglo-Saxon cross-shaft in the churchyard, suggest an earlier foundation for this church. The cross-shaft now stands to the north of the church, though Cox ('Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire', 1877, p 302) states that it once stood in the south-west part of the churchyard, within the area of the proposed extension to the vestry. Evaluation and watching brief recovered an abundance of disarticulated bone, with articulated skeletal remains. (3)