A history of pauper burial grounds

Before the introduction of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales in 1837, it is the parochial registers recording the baptisms, marriages and burials of our ancestors

MEMORIAL INSCRIPTIONS Amanda Leedham Pen & Sword, 176 pages, £14.99 Pen & Sword has now published more than 100 guides and handbooks for family historians, a remarkable achievement, and there’s no sig

Different ways of dying across the British Isles

Missing for centuries, where are the final resting places of some of history’s greatest figures?

With their potent blend of wild looks and mystery, Britain’s ancient sites have an enduring magnetism–and there are far more of them than you might imagine, says Tom Howells

Home to a veritable ‘Noah’s Ark of species’, thanks to never being ploughed, sprayed or fertilised, our churchyards are a sacred haven for flora and fauna