Yarrell Tombs and Railings of Enclosure 20 Metres to North West of Nave is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 20 April 1988. Tomb enclosure.

Yarrell Tombs and Railings of Enclosure 20 Metres to North West of Nave

WRENN ID
carved-brass-sage
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
East Hertfordshire
Constituency
North East Hertfordshire MP: Chris Hinchliff (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
20 April 1988
Type
Tomb enclosure
OS grid reference
TL 309 088
Coordinates
51.76307, -0.10404
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Yarrell Tombs and railings of enclosure are located 20 meters northwest of the nave at Bayford Church Lane. This group of tombstones is dedicated to members of the Yarrell family, including Frances who died in 1794, Harriot who died in 1796, Sarah who died in 1796, Francis who died in 1812, seven infants of Frances, and William Yarrell (1784-1856), a notable Victorian zoologist and author of "A History of British Birds" and "A History of British Fishes," who was buried on September 8, 1856.

The tombs feature white limestone head and foot stones, with a sandstone headstone for William Yarrell. The graves are enclosed by a stone weathered curb and original cast iron railings. There are nine graves closely grouped within a rectangular railed enclosure. The graves include rounded recumbent stones over the graves in the middle of the western row and the middle row. The headstones follow a similar design with moulded segmental tops adorned with paterae. The railings are decorated with cruciform iron spears that have pointed bulbous tops, arranged in five bays along the long sides and three bays at each end. Fluted square standards are topped with fluted urns.

William Yarrell bequeathed £500 in his will for the maintenance of the family graves, which remain unusually intact with their railings. His executors placed an inscription in the church, donated surplus funds to the poor of the parish, and erected a wall memorial to Yarrell near the north aisle of St. James' Church, Piccadilly, featuring a portrait medallion and two Bewick swans as supporters, a bird he discovered and named after his favorite engraver.

Local climate

Yarrell Tombs and Railings of Enclosure 20 Metres to North West of Nave sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 84% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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