Lych Gate And Adjoining Walls, Church Of St Edward The Confessor

The lych gate and adjoining churchyard walls at the Church of St. Edward the Confessor were built between 1902 and 1903 by architect Randall Wells for Lord Beauchamp. The structure features generally thin, roughly coursed stonework, well-squared quoins, and a stone slate roof. It has a gabled archway with walls extending on either side. Inside the archway, there is a coffin stone on a low wall that divides the opening into two sections, each with a wooden pedestrian gate. The gates have slightly curved braces, slats tenoned through the frame, and a plunger latch. Above the gates is a plain, semi-circular arch with radiating stonework leading to the gables above, which feature a three-step projecting verge with scalloped courses and a sloping return from the eaves to the sides. The returns include a central buttress with a stepped, hipped top below the eaves. To the left of the gate, as viewed from inside, the wall extends about 14 meters and has a low triangular head with thin vertical stones for a short length, followed by projecting scalloped horizontal stones beneath larger copings and two triangular buttresses on the outside. To the right, the wall curves around a tree and is followed by a short, straight length, with coping that mirrors that on the left and a triangular buttress at the end. This lych gate and wall form a group with the church and serve as a carefully considered and detailed addition to it.