Bisley Monumental
Inscriptions
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Although burials have taken place at Bisley
church from at least as early as the 13th century, very few monumental
inscriptions survive from any earlier than the late 1800's. The main reason for
this is that north-west Surrey has almost no local stone to be quarried. Any
stone therefore had to be transported from elsewhere and was correspondingly
expensive. Only the rich would have stone grave markers - the majority of graves
would be either unmarked or have wooden grave-boards, long since lost. In 1892,
the Reverend Joseph Cater, Rector of Bisley, wrote "a large majority of those
interred here have nothing beyond a green mound of earth to mark the spot where
their bones are at rest. The prevailing fashion... a few years ago was to
put over the grave a wooden erection, consisting of an upright at the head and
foot, with a board about 6 to 8 inches wide connecting them, which bore the
inscription."
In 1814 there was only one Monumental Inscription inside
the church - that of Isabella Champion who died in 1506 (click box for translation) - unfortunately by 1890
this had been totally removed.
A list of Bisley men
who served in the Great War 1914-1918
War memorial at Bisley Green
Churchyard memorials