Cradley Church, An Historical Tour

The Churchyard

The timber-framed lych-gate is 16th. Century or earlier, with arch-braced tie-beams. This is where coffins would rest or wedding parties await the priest’s arrival.

The churchyard contains two ancient yew trees: the female tree in the centre of the south churchyard has a hollow trunk; the male tree to the east of the church has long ago been pollarded, and has re-grown to a fascinating shape. Yew trees were often planted to celebrate the building of a church; it is likely that the eastern tree predates the Norman Conquest.

In the north churchyard a Glastonbury Thorn tree was planted in 2019. This commemorates an old local tradition of some villagers gathering to witness the flowering of a similar tree in the north of the parish on the twelfth night after Christmas.

There is a record of the tombstones and their inscriptions in the back of the church.

The Churchyard

The Churchyard map