Claverton

The church from the South-West

The extent of the graveyards

The church of St Mary the Virgin, originally Norman, has parts dating from the 13th century but was renovated in 1858. It comes under the Benefice of St Nicholas, Bathampton and St Mary the Virgin, Claverton. It is most famous for the mausoleum of Ralph Allen (-1764), renovated in 1965 and again in 2012. The churchyard was closed in 1986 but burial of ashes continue.

The burial ground is in three sections. On walking up the path from the road, on the right there is rectangular walled area with a small metal gate; the graves are arranged in four rows on two levels and date from the 1890s until 1940. Further on, an area south of the church, by its door, has graves including the mausoleum. This is the original graveyard and, in the register, is referred to as the ‘old churchyard’. Past this, some steps lead up to a rectangular area with more recent burials which date from 1938 and an area for the interment of ashes which date from the 1990s. There have been over 1,200 burials since 1707.