DROITWICH historian and photographer Paul Jones has written a book about the history of the town’s St Mary’s Churchyard and the people buried within it.
St Mary’s Churchyard Droitwich details the area’s 1,000-year past and contains 21 biographies of people interred in the churchyard including Edgar Francis Talbot whose tragic death during the First World War and campaign to get the grave restored was covered last year in The Standard.
Rev Nigel Byard has written the wonderfully uplifting foreword to the book and there are also contributions from Michael Bowles about his own family and Kevin Hyett who has been working to restore the churchyard to its former glory.
Paul said: “I really hope the book will show just what a gem this site is.
“Its history is absolutely fascinating, and includes the discovery of a Mediaeval floor tile kiln in 1837 by a gravedigger.”
Three of the decorated tiles discovered in the kiln at the time are now on display in Droitwich Heritage Centre.
“The lives of the individuals interred in the churchyard are equally as fascinating, and range from eminent local figures of the 19th and 20th centuries, to shopkeepers and victims of war.”
St Mary’s Churchyard Droitwich contains over 200 pages with many colour illustrations and, priced at £12.95, is now available from Grace Cards and Books in the Droitwich precinct and from Droitwich Heritage Centre.
