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St Mary's has several
memorials to those who fell in various conflicts involving British forces:
The South African
War Plaque on the west wall of the north transept lists the names of men who died
in that conflict - mostly from disease.
The Memorial Book kept
in a locked case lists the names of all those from the Borough of Stafford
(and several others with a Stafford connexion) who fell in the two World
Wars. This is now very fragile and should not be
handled. Therefore, a transcript of this
together with an index of those named in the book and
photographs of the original pages, will shortly be available for viewing from the
church stewards.
The 1914 to 1919 Panel in the north
transept names those from Stafford who gave their lives in the Great War.
Most of these also appear in the Memorial Book.
The Christ Church WWI Memorials
Christ Church, situated to the north of Gaol Square, was demolished in the
1980s. These memorials were found in a London cellar during building work.
Following restoration they were brought to St Mary's.
The 59th (North Staffordshire) Division
Territorial Forces
Plaque in the south transept is unusual in that it lists no
individuals but names all the component units of the division during
battles of 1917 and 1918.
The
HMS Perseus Memorial is not actually in St Mary's but is located
outside at the southern end of the path which crosses in front of the west
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From the
opulence of the Aston Tomb to the simplest wooden plaque, the memorials in
The Collegiate Church of St Mary in Stafford vary in both quality and
material and range in date from the late 16th century to the present day.
Some are large and obvious but there are some hidden gems that anyone
interested in such things would be wise to see.
Many memorials
were "tidied up" during the George Gilbert Scott restoration of the 1840s.
This has resulted in some memorials being placed very high on the walls
where they are difficult to read. Sadly, it also resulted in floor
memorials being cut to fit where a new piece of stone was required
All memorials in St Mary's are in the process of
being photographed. A sample of these is available in the
Memorial Gallery
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Our church
registers date from 1559 though the years 1644 to 1667 are variable in
thoroughness. These records are held at the Staffordshire County Records
Office in the town.
Very recent
records held in church, may be viewed by appointment on payment of a small
statutory search fee.
Please note that genealogical queries
should be addressed to
Ian Miller
not to the Parish Office
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