The following is a summary of the information about burials in Chipperfield presented by Mary Nobbs at the meeting held on 16 June to discuss how the village is going to deal with the serious issue of finding further burial space.

Chipperfield did not have a graveyard until 1838 when St Paul’s Church was dedicated. Until then Chipperfield people were buried at All Saints Church in Kings Langley. Coffins were transported by horse and cart or carried by friends and family to the churchyard and refreshment was taken at the local hostelries en route. When the population of Chipperfield had peaked at 300 a fund was set up to raise money to build a church for the village. The gentry contributed sums like £100 and working people donated 5 shillings or whatever they could afford. The villagers were determined, the money was raised and the church was completed in 18 months. Everything was fine for 85 years but the Parish Magazine of April 1923 reported that it had become clear to the vicar, Canon Arthur Jefferies, that the churchyard would soon be full to capacity. Plans were prepared to raise funds. A sale of work was to be held at the Old Vicarage and many ladies planned to run stalls. Members of many village organisations were invited to play their part. Samuel Blackwell, Lord of the Manor, generously donated the land for a churchyard extension but the money still had to be raised to prepare the ground and build new boundary walls. The vicar said that the people of Chipperfield valued their churchyard and done a worthwhile job. In January 1925 the Parish Magazine reported that the churchyard extension had been consecrated on a very cold December day by Bishop Lander but that not many people had seemed to know about the event. Norah Battershill was the first person to be buried there in May 1926. There was space for 560 burial plots in the extension and further graves have been added at the side and on the central path.

By 1949 cremation had become a preferred choice for some people. The Garden of Remembrance was dedicated and Chipperfield made history by having the first such garden within a churchyard. Because there was no means of marking where loved ones’ ashes had been placed, the Parochial Church Council began to look for another alternative form of burial site. In November 2007 work was carried out to create a Memorial Garden where engraved plaques are laid above the area where ashes have been interred. It has been possible to use one of the original burial sites which had no gravestones on it. This has pleased many people but it does not meet with the wishes of village people who do not choose to be cremated. After 85 years our graveyard is full. A search is now on to find an additional piece of land preferably close to the existing graveyard. The Blackwell family are no longer here to assist with the problem. In 1936 they generously gave the 113 acres of Chipperfield Common to Hemel Hempstead Rural District Council with the proviso that it be maintained as an open space ‘for all time’. Is there an opportunity provided by the documentation when it says that the Council should take care to consult local feeling over the future management of the Common? Would the Blackwell family have agreed to a further extension of the churchyard?

Tags: Chipperfield Common, Village People