Bunny Village History Society - Bunny Churchyard Inscriptions

Prior to 1999, no accurate plan of Bunny Churchyard was known to exist. The Index of Memorial Inscriptions recorded by Nottinghamshire Family History Society in 1984 was used as a basis for the study and the Churchyard was accurately surveyed during 1999. A few gravestones were missed in the 1984 survey, including that of Mary Champin who died in 1702 (the earliest so far discovered.) The latest gravestone recorded in the work is dated 1984.

Against each located grave in the INDEX OF GRAVES is a co-ordinate reference to the CHURCHYARD PLAN, consisting of four figures. The first two indicate the row number in which the grave is to be found and the last two figures indicate its position in that row. Unfortunately the Churchyard plan is not yet available in an electronic form, although it is hoped a copy will be placed within Bunny Church soon. It is also hoped that we will be able to produce a simplified version of the plan to be made available online later in 2009.

View of Bunny Churchyard from the tower

On the CHURCHYARD PLAN each grave is marked with the name and year of the most recent burial therein. Only the first six letters of the surname and the year are given so as to avoid a cramped notation but this is sufficient to identify the entry in the INDEX. Thus the CHURCHYARD PLAN indicates when the grave was last used.

The INDEX, and the CHURCHYARD PLAN, are records of interments marked by a gravestone and the entries should match those in the Register of Burials for Bunny and Bradmore. Where a direct match has been made between the Churchyard inscription entry and the Burials register, a link has been added alongside the Inscriptions entry directly to the entry on the Burials Index. Links have also been added back from the Burials index entry to the Inscriptions entry for completeness.

The inscription records also include the burial of cremated remains at the western end of the Churchyard. These are marked by small plaques and commemorative vases. As these plots are small, their location in row 25 is indicated by one of two references - 2510 (southern end), or 2525 (northern end).

Many gravestones to the south of the Church dating from the 18th century and into the early 20th century, have been removed from their original sites and re-laid contiguously in rows. Sometimes the re-laid stones have been placed on top of other stones. Where this has been discovered, and the concealed stone revealed, it has been recorded in the INDEX and given the same reference as the stone lying above it but with an additional figure ‘9’ at the end to denote an overlain stone.

Where a mason’s or engraver’s name has been identified, this is shown in square brackets in the index, thus [Winfield]
Grave plots shown with a circle were ‘occupied’ according to a plan drawn in about 1978. This was not drawn to scale and only parts of it were filled in. Entries shown as ‘No Known Plot’ are burials with no gravestone taken from the most recent Register of Burials.