A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English lic, corpse), also wych gate, is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. The name resurrection gate is also used. [1] Examples exist also outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, [2] the Upland South [3] and Texas [4] in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Norway, [5] and Sweden.
The word lych survived into modern English from the Old English or Saxon word for 'corpse', mostly as an adjective in particular phrases or names, such as lych bell, the hand-bell rung before a corpse; lych way , the path along which a corpse was carried to burial (this in some districts was supposed to establish a right-of-way); lych owl, the screech owl, because its cry was a portent of death; and lyke-wake, a night watch over a corpse (see Lyke-Wake Dirge ).
It is cognate with the modern German Leiche, Dutch lijk and lichaam , West Frisian lyk and Swedish lik, all meaning 'corpse'.
Lychgate in Swedish is called stiglucka, literally 'step hatch'. The explanation is that the gate was split vertically so that you could step over the lower part without having to open it. Therefore, one can also guess another meaning of lych (lyke, luke, lucka 'hatch, gap') from the Scandinavian languages.
Lychgates consist of a roofed porch-like structure over a gate, often built of wood. They usually consist of four or six upright wooden posts in a rectangular shape. On top of this are a number of beams to hold a pitched roof covered in thatch or wooden or clay tiles. They can have decorative carvings and in later times were erected as memorials. They sometimes have recessed seats on either side of the gate itself, for the use of pall-bearers or vigil watchers. [6]
Lychgates followed a somewhat predictable pattern, though great variations in form could be seen. Typically, they were gable or hipped roofed, often with benches where mourners could sit, or with a lych-stone, coffin-stool or trestle, upon which a coffin could be rested. [7]
The most common form of lychgate is a simple shed composed of a roof with two gabled ends, covered with tiles or thatch. At Berrynarbor, Devon, there is a lychgate in the form of a cross, while at Troutbeck, Westmorland, there are three lychgates to one churchyard. Some elaborate gates have chambers over them. In Texas and the South of the US, lychgates are simpler in construction, usually consisting of a steel or wooden span with a sign showing the name of the burial space. [4]
Most were built from around the mid-15th century although some date from earlier, including the 13th-century lychgate of St George's churchyard in Beckenham, South London, claimed to be the oldest in England. [8] After World War I a number of lychgates were built as war memorials, for example that of Sandridge, Hertfordshire. Sandridge lychgate is a Grade II listed building as is that of St Cuthbert's, Allendale, Northumberland. [9] However, many of these memorial lychgates, such as that of St Peter's, Felkirk, Yorkshire, are not listed. [10] Several new examples were built to mark the new millennium, such as that at Lenton, Lincolnshire.
In the Middle Ages, before mortuaries, and at a time when most people died at home, the dead were placed on a bier and taken to the lychgate where they remained, often attended against bodysnatchers, until the funeral service, which may have been a day or two later. The lychgate kept the rain off, and often had seats for the vigil watchers. Bodies at that time were buried in just shrouds rather than coffins. At the funeral, the priest conducted the first part of the service under the shelter of the lychgate.
In traditional usage, the gate was "the sheltered point at which the coffin was set down at a funeral to await the clergyman's arrival." [11] An English commentator, writing in 1899, noted that the lych-gate, "or corpse-gate, with its pent-house roof, is specially provided for the shelter of a funeral while awaiting the priest, but it is only in a few cases that it is exclusively used for that purpose; it is frequently, perhaps, where it exists, commonly, the principal gateway of the churchyard." [12] In some regions of Cornwall and Devon, such gates were called "trim-trams" – the spot where a funeral train (or tram) was brought into the proper order (or trimmed) to be ready for the officiating clergyman. [13] In parts of Scotland, Lykerstanes (lit. "corpse stones") may have served a similar purpose. [14]
Lychgates serve to differentiate consecrated and unconsecrated space, and serve as a liminal space. [15] Stone lychgates may create an increased aural awareness of the transition from one space to another by creating a tangible contrast between sounds inside and outside. [16] In England, there was a folk belief that the spirit of the last person buried stands watch at the gate till the next is buried, leading to funeral fights at the entrance to decide which corpse should be buried first. [13]
Traditionally in some parts of England, particularly parts of Yorkshire, at the end of the wedding as the bride and groom leave the church the gates are closed (or where there is an absence of gates a rope is held across) by the local children and the couple have to pay them to let them pass. Conversely, in Cheshire and Shropshire, wedding parties would never pass through the lychgate, so as to avoid misfortune. [12]
In fantasy fiction, a lich is a type of undead creature.
A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.
The "Lyke-Wake Dirge" is a traditional English folk song and dirge listed as number 8194 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song tells of the soul's travel, and the hazards it faces, on its way from earth to purgatory. Though it is from the Christian era and features references to Christianity, much of the symbolism is thought to be of pre-Christian origin.
St Peter's Church is in Church Road, Woolton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Liverpool South Childwall, the archdeaconry of Liverpool, and the diocese of Liverpool. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is one of the largest parish churches in Liverpool, and its bell tower stands at the highest point of the city. The church also has connections with The Beatles.
A dirge is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies. Dirges are often slow and bear the character of funeral marches. Poetic dirges may be dedicated to a specific individual or otherwise thematically refer to death.
Icelandic funerals are ceremonies that are largely shaped by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, the largest Christian organisation in Iceland. However, customs may vary depending on religious group.
Corpse roads provided a practical means for transporting corpses, often from remote communities, to cemeteries that had burial rights, such as parish churches and chapels of ease. In Britain, such routes can also be known by a number of other names, e.g.: bier road, burial road, coffin line, coffin road, corpse way, funeral road, lych way, lyke way, or procession way. etc. Such "church-ways" have developed a great deal of associated folklore regarding ghosts, spirits, wraiths, etc.
St Mary's Church is in the village of Dodleston, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester.
St Michael's Church, also known as St Michael and All Angels, stands on a small rise overlooking Big Mere in the village of Marbury, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Malpas. Its benefice is combined with those of St Chad, Tushingham, and St Mary, Whitewell.
St Martin's Church is in Church Lane, Ashton upon Mersey, a district of Sale, Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Bowdon.
The Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist is the parish church of Morwenstow, north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, the most northerly parish in Cornwall. The church is dedicated to Morwenna, a local saint, and to John the Baptist, and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Truro, the archdeaconry of Bodmin, and the deanery of Stratton. Its benefice is combined with that of St James, Kilkhampton to form the United Benefice of Kilkhampton with Morwenstow.
St Michael and All Angels Church stands to the west of the village of Great Altcar, West Lancashire, England. The church is timber-framed and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Liverpool, the archdeaconry of Liverpool and the deanery of Sefton. Its benefice is combined with that of Holy Trinity, Formby. In the Buildings of England series it is described as "an utterly charming church".
The Anglican Church of St Peter and St Paul in Kilmersdon, Somerset, England, dates back to the Norman period, though much of the current structure was built during the 15th and 16th centuries and restored in the Victorian era. It is a Grade I listed building.
St Michael's Church, Manafon, is in the small village of Manafon, Powys, Wales. It is an active Anglican church in the parish of Llanfair Caereinion, Llanllugan and Manafon, the deanery of Mathrafal, the archdeaconry of Montgomery and the diocese of St Asaph. The church has been designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building.
St Mary the Virgin, Acocks Green is a Grade II listed Church of England parish church in Acocks Green, Birmingham, England.
St Anne's Church is an Anglican church in St Anne's-on-the-Sea, a town on the Fylde coastal plain in Lancashire, England. It is an active Church of England parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn and the archdeaconry of Lancaster. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
St Peter's Church is in the village of Heversham, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Kendal, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the diocese of Carlisle. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
Sandridge Lychgate is a war memorial in the village of Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England. The timber lychgate with its flanking walls is listed Grade II, and is the entrance to the churchyard of St Leonard's Church, Sandridge. It records the names of the community's 24 fallen soldiers and also those of survivors of World War I.
All Saints' Church is an active parish church in the village of Grayswood, Surrey, England. The church stands in the centre of the village and was built between 1900 and 1902. Designed by the Swedish artist Axel Haig, who lived in the village and is buried in the graveyard, the church is a Grade II listed building.
