Thanks to grants totalling £1,500 from Lydiard Tregoze Parish Council and Wiltshire County Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Area Board, The Friends of Lydiard Park have commissioned Atlantic Geomatics to create a digital survey of St. Mary’s Church graveyard and the little cemetery on Hook Street which succeeded the graveyard in the 19th Century.
St. Mary’s Lydiard Tregoze graveyard
The survey is part of a wider national initiative being developed between the Church of England (C of E) and Atlantic Geomatics to provide a national digital database of C of E burial grounds in England. Starting in January the Lydiard Tregoze survey will be one of the earliest to take place and will allow people to discover more about the lives of local people in Lydiard Tregoze down the centuries and to trace their ancestors. The survey will be linked to a Lydiard Tregoze Family History Project exploring the lives of local people who lived and worked in this close knit rural community.
Hook Street Cemetery
Councillor Allison Bucknell, Chair of and Wiltshire County Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Area Board writes:
‘The Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Area Board members were delighted to support the project to digitally survey St Mary’s churchyard and Hook Street Cemetery. It’s fantastic that we also have volunteers who are dedicated to capturing this special piece of local history, and delighted to hear that they will be working with North Wiltshire Young Archaeologists. Encouraging interest and engagement in local history at all levels in a manner which is accessible to all is so important – this is money well spent!’
Cllr Denise Henderson of Lydiard Tregoze Parish Council which warmly supported the initial bid said:
“Lydiard Tregoze Parish Council were very pleased to be able to make a grant to this worthy project. It is good to see technology being used to enrich our understanding of the past. Family history is often passed orally; documenting preserves it for future generations and a wider audience. We are looking forward to watching the team’s progress.”