Introduction to heritage assets: The churchyard

Historic England says that our churchyards "are of international importance in terms of their degree of survival, their design quality and [their] human interest". Historic England says: "The bulk of memorials took the form of headstones, one of the glories of English craftsmanship ... Higher status tombs tended to be more architectural in character, the standard form being the chest tomb".

We have adopted a list of local heritage assets on the theme of commemorative structures.

We have prepared four introductions to heritage assets on the themes of 'the chest tomb', 'the headstone', 'the lych-gate' and 'monuments of the landed gentry'. The introductions describe the history and significance of each asset type. They offer a context for the review of the adopted list of local heritage assets.