St Leonard’s Church, Church Street, Seaford Section Plans
St Leonard’s, like most churches, had no record of where burials had taken place in its churchyard, or where memorials had been placed inside the church itself. The two previous surveys – by Henry Simmons in 1860 and Wood/Landrock in 1999 (see Sources) – had not provided what we judged to be sufficiently accurate descriptions or plans of where individual graves were located. As at St Peter’s, Rodney Castleden therefore undertook the difficult and painstaking task of mapping both the church and graveyard.
Some adjustments were required as reading the inscriptions proceeded (and a number of stones were found to be illegible), to arrive at what we hope will enable visitors looking for particular memorials to locate them. The graveyard was divided into Sections A to J, and plot numbers allocated to the grave markers which bore recordable inscriptions. The dividing lines between these Sections are not always readily identifiable, particularly in the larger Eastern area, but they do have a logic and we hope the “navigational aids” included on these plans will prove helpful.
When seeking a particular plot, start with the number. “C08” for example means Plot 8 in Section C. Names have been included, but some surnames occur frequently so please orientate yourself using the Section Plan and then count the numbers.
Many of the stones have weathered and what we sometimes spent considerable time cleaning and deciphering may not now be immediately legible. If seeking an outdoor memorial, it is often wise to equip oneself with a mirror (to reflect sunlight across the face of a stone) and/or a water spray and small brush. Water is available from the tap beside the Church Street entrance to Section A. Sometimes water by itself is sufficient to throw lettering into relief.
These plans were first included as black-and-white diagrams with numbers only, designed as they were to be read with the text in “Testimony of Regard”, the published book of recorded inscriptions (no longer in print). They have been enlarged here and names, colour and some clues added. Being an old graveyard, it can be difficult to navigate.
We hope you will find your visit worthwhile.
Key to symbols and letters used:
The Sections
The Church and Churchyard have been divided into 11 Sections. We have tried to use the paths as borders, but the larger areas to the South and East had to be sub-divided to keep numbers reasonable. The dotted lines shown above are logical (in terms of trying to group families together), but this may not be immediately apparent.
Each legible memorial has been given a plot number. To aid navigation to particular plots, the plans which follow have clues to aid recognition: the red rectangle denoting a chest tomb and red “k” indicating a larger, kerbed plot, are probably the most helpful.
Section A
Section B
Section C
Section D
Section E
Section F
Section G
Key to symbols and letters used:
Section H
Section I
Key to symbols and letters used:
Section J
Section K – The Church
Seaford Monumental Inscriptions Group 2020
For Full information, please visit:- https://www.seamig.org.uk/stleonards.htm