All Saints Church
Clifton

Church Guide, History, Graveyard

Church Guide

All Saints’ Clifton was 700 years old in 2020 and much of the original structure remains.
It contains many features that are interesting plus some that are of national importance. Several guides have been produced down the ages and this is the latest containing recent discoveries.

View it as a booklet or PDF. Enjoy...



 
Additional Articles about Church History

All Saints Clifton Church Clock

A bit of history and information about our Church Clock and Carillon Here....

The Organ, Ken Smith

Ken Smith has kindly provided two historical documents about our organs. The first covers the period from 1832 to 1886 when the original organ was transfered to St Mary Lower Gravenhurst Here..... and the second from 1886 to 2016 recording our current Henry Willis organ Here......

A Tale of Two..., Barry Livesey

….most readers, sensing mischief, will not have expected the literary answer of “Two Cities” and they would be correct. My choices focussed on “…Two Churches” or as an alternative “…Two Miles” but initially I choose to focus on one amazing man named Henry Miles whose great generosity had a huge impact on two parishes - Weethley in Warwickshire and Clifton in Bedfordshire. Full Copy Here.....

Rectors of Clifton

For a list of the Rectors of Clifton Church from 1202. Copy Here.....

 
Churchyard Information

Information

For information regarding funerals and burials please contact the Rector: Rev. Caren Topley 01462 615499 rector4clifton@gmail.com. For informatiom regarding the Churchyard see here.....

Churchyard Regulations are set out here....

Registers of burials: All except the current volume are in the County Record Office, Bedford.

The Old Churchyard (Memorials & Inscriptions)

It is impossible to identify graves not marked by a monument and consequently no details are available on this web site.  Some limited information is held manually in the Church.

The New Churchyard (Plan of Churchyard)

This web site contains details of burials since 1923 together with those that have been identified from a monument or gravestone.
Information is updated periodically and cannot be guaranteed to be comprehensive, additional information may be available from the Rector.

Graves are listed in alphabetic sequence and their location identified by a Section reference and a grave number.  The layout of the sections can be viewed on the Churchyard Plan.

Sections A to J contain graves.  A plan of each area can be found here: (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G) (H) (H Extension) (J) (K)

Sections R and GR are reserved for the burial of Ashes.            Some Ashes have been buried in the Garden of Remembrance in the Old Churchyard.  

A new Garden of Remembrance was created in 2008 together will a wall on which plaques may be placed.  This is recorded under reference WR.

A searchable list of grave spaces can be found here:(Searchable List)

Inscriptions

These are listed by Grave number within Section.

Abbreviations (Abreviations)

A list of the abbreviations used is shown on a separate page.

Maintenance of the Churchyards

Advice on the mantenance and upkeep of our lovely Churchyard has been provided by The Saint Albans Diocese (The Living Churchyard) and The Bedfordshire Wildlife Trust (Management Recommendations 2010)

The Old Churchyard is maintained by volunteer members of the Church congregation.
The New Churchyard is maintained by a sub-contractor.

Maintenance costs are borne by members of the Church congregation through the P.C.C. together with an annual support grant from Clifton Parish Council.

Burial Date

This is taken from the Register of Graves of the New Churchyard and from the Burial Registers in All Saints, Clifton.

The Burial Register number

This is taken from the current Burial Register.

The Registration details

Are obtained from a certificate issued by the Registrar of Deaths after registration or from a Coroner's certificate.