We are constantly finding new information and stories about the Old Church, the history of the surrounding area and the people who were born, lived, worked, celebrated and died here.
There are so many fascinating ‘rabbit holes’ to go down, we can’t manage them all and would to hear from anyone who loves history, people and detective work to join in
Here are some projects to consider
Thundridge Old Church Action Group (TOCAG) are working to piece together Thundridge Old Church’s 18th and 19th century gravemarkers. Whilst some stones are remarkably still complete and largely legible, other fragments have fared less well and are proving more challenging for Thundridge Old Church visitors to decipher.
TOCAG would like to complete a memorial survey of the final resting places of Thundridge Parish’s past residents; to help widen access to biographical, geneological and other local heritage records. Thankfully, in addition to the remaining stones and church’s burial register, Thundridge Old Church’s cherished churchyard memorials have been recorded through the years by earlier antiquarians including: Rev James Harvey Bloom, curate of St Andrews, Hertford, in 1888; Cambridge student Edith Hitch (later Mrs Thomas Hunt), whose records were included in William Gerish’s East Hertfordshire Archeological Society (EHAS) memorial lists published in 1907; and Alfred Charles Pagan in 1979. Many of these records were re-compiled into ‘Hertfordshire Monumental Inscriptions The Parish Churches of St Mary, Thundridge including St Mary, Thundridge Old Church and St John, High Cross: MI Series No 95’ by members of the Hertfordshire Family History Society in 2009.
So how can you help? A bit of detective teamwork will help TOCAG explore and expand the historical records, some of which are limited to names and dates; decipher digital and digitalised photos, which can be easier to read than a sun bleached or rain drenched stone; and utilise drone technology to improve hand drawn survey maps.
TOCAG would be very grateful to receive more ‘pieces’ to the jigsaw that is Thundridge Old Churchyard. Hopefully readers may have transcribed or photographed other gravemarkers during visits made to this tranquil spot in years gone by? Photos, monochrome or colour, taken from any angle, standing or flat, may supply ‘the missing piece’ of key identifying texts, or help clarify the original shape and location of headstones and their rightful place in family groups.
For more Information – see here