Dadlington church cemetery - St James the Greater - Dadlington, Leicestershire - Worldwide Cemeteries on Waymarking.com

"The wrought iron gates and lamp at the entrance are part of the village's memorial to five local men who were lost in the Great War. The churchyard is crowded with other memorials, the earliest of which is situated on your right as you approach the south porch, close to the south chapel wall. Like many of the early headstones it commemorates a member of the Ballard family (in this case Mary, daughter of Henry) and like all the early ones it is of local Swithland slate, with finely cut lettering. It bears the date 18th January 1708/9, an interesting example of the use of dual calendars, which ended in 1752 when the Gregorian Calendar was made law in Britain.

From the churchyard looking north can be seen Ambion Hill, the site of the famous Battle of Bosworth Field, which took place in 1485. From many accounts a large number of the dead were carried to Dadlington and buried in the churchyard; in 1886, for example, the Leicester Chronicle reported that "skeletons and broken fragments of rusty armour still frequently obstruct the peasant's plough, and the old churchyard has known many ghastly re-interments of the poor soldiers remains." "

SOURCE - (visit link)

"In Medieval battles the dead were treated in various ways. The bodies of knights were returned to their home parish, but common soldiers were either taken to the nearest consecrated ground or thrown into pits on the battlefield. There is much evidence to suggest St James' church. Dadlington as the burial place for some of the soldiers from the Battle of Bosworth.

In 1511 Henry VIII issued a warrant for prayers to be said for those 'slayn' in the battle.'

A Letter of Confraternity specifies praying at St James chapel for the souls of bodies of men slain, brought and buried .

Prayers are still said in this church on the Sunday nearest to 22nd August - the anniversary of the Battle - to remember those who died.

In 1622, a local historian - William Burton - described the chapel dedicated to Saint James 'is in the churchyard whereof many of the dead bodies (slain in the said battaile) was buried. County historian, John Nichols, in 1782 and 1811, referred to burials and indented spaces in the graveyard. later, There were reports of the discovery of 'compacted masses of human bones' in the churchyard in 1868, circa 1900 and 1950."

SOURCE - display within the church

City, Town, or Parish / State / Country: Dadlington / Leicestershire / England Approximate number of graves: 200 Cemetery Status: Active Cemetery Website: Not listed

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