Our church in Otterton has sat on the same site since the 11c. The church registers begin in 1558 and there has been around 15 burials every year recorded, that is nearly 7'000 souls that we know about, buried in the churchyard. The churchyard walls vary in height up to about 12 feet. A few years ago, after heavy rain, the wall collapsed on one side, this had to be quickly secured and covered with tarpaulin - the soil behind the wall is about 8-9feet high in the churchyard and its contents, apparently, were visible. The Churchyard has been closed for burials (other than those who have already secured a place with family members) since around 1980, and a new cemetery consecrated nearby. One of the earliest tombstones in the churchyard - that is readable is 1650. Roz Hickman OPC Otterton -----Original Message----- From: devon-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:devon-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Robyn Waymouth Sent: 22 January 2014 11:28 To: devon@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [DEV] Recording burials Hi Bev, Have you ever noticed how some churches seem to sit very low in their surrounds? Or rather, how high the surrounds are in relation to the floor level of the church? I saw a programme on TV once where they talked about the medieval plague victims being buried in such numbers that the ground level was significantly raised. Cheers, Robyn