2011
SK8065 : Lych gate, Sutton-on-Trent
taken 13 years ago, near to Sutton on Trent, Nottinghamshire, England
Lych gate, Sutton-on-Trent
The lych gate was built in 1920 and it is built of stone and timber.
Many churches have a lych gate built over the main entrance to the enclosed area round the church. The name, also spelt lich or lytch, is from the Anglo Saxon 'lich' meaning corpse. The gate marks the division between consecrated and unconsecrated ground, where the bearers sheltered with the coffin, waiting for the clergyman to lead the procession before the burial. The original lych gates had seats, a lych cross and a lych stone - a slab on which the coffin rested.
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