Scholefeild Grave Slab in Churchyard of Church of St Mary
SCHOLEFEILD GRAVE SLAB IN CHURCHYARD OF CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE, PRESTWICH, BURY, GREATER MANCHESTER
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1406310
- Date first listed:
- 21-Feb-2012
- List Entry Name:
- Scholefeild Grave Slab in Churchyard of Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address:
- SCHOLEFEILD GRAVE SLAB IN CHURCHYARD OF CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE, PRESTWICH, BURY, GREATER MANCHESTER
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1406310
- Date first listed:
- 21-Feb-2012
- List Entry Name:
- Scholefeild Grave Slab in Churchyard of Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address 1:
- SCHOLEFEILD GRAVE SLAB IN CHURCHYARD OF CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE, PRESTWICH, BURY, GREATER MANCHESTER
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- SCHOLEFEILD GRAVE SLAB IN CHURCHYARD OF CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE, PRESTWICH, BURY, GREATER MANCHESTER
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Bury (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SD8109103662
Summary
Grave slab commemorating James Scholefeild and Thomas Scholes, c1670, re-used by another family in the C18.
Reasons for Designation
The Scholefeild grave slab, c1670, in St Mary's churchyard, Prestwich, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Early date: It is an increasingly rare survival of a C17 grave slab with an original inscription that remains fully legible and decorative incised carvings
* Historic interest: It illustrates the extensive history of the St Mary's churchyard and the original Prestwich-cum-Oldham parish, once one of the largest and wealthiest parishes in the country
* Group value: It has group value with the Grade I listed St Mary's Church and the other listed monuments and structures in the St Mary's churchyard
History
St Mary's Church, Prestwich, dates to the C14 with later alterations, and the oldest extant grave marker in the churchyard dates to 1641. However, the topography of the churchyard suggests a much older burial ground. The churchyard has been extended many times, including in 1827 when boundary walls were constructed. Prior to these walls being erected the churchyard was enclosed by a ditch and hedge created in 1706, and subsequently by the planting of beech and fir trees in 1763. Further extensions of the churchyard occurred in 1864, 1886, 1924 and 1950.
The western section of the churchyard contains, amongst other graves, the unmarked burials of thousands of inmates of the County Asylum Prestwich dating from the mid-C19 to early-C20, although several communal graves for the asylum's attendants and some inmates are marked by grave slabs. In 1801 a hearse house (altered in the mid-late C20) was constructed to the north of the church.
Details
Sandstone, rectangular grave slab with incised carving including a border. Triangle motif to the centre of the head of the slab, and scroll and diamond motif at the foot of the slab. Inscription in widely-spaced lettering reads 'HERE RESTETH THE BO/ DIES OF JAMES SCHOLE/ FEILD OF PRESTWICH WHO/ DYED APRIL THE 11 1670/ AND OF THOMAS/ SCHOLES WHO DYED MARCH/ THE 14 1672'. Later inscription below following the re-use of the grave reads 'Alfo Thomas Crompton/ of Pilkington Buried/ June 17th 1717 Aged 87/ Alfo Thomas Crompton/ of Clifton who departed/ this Life June 9th 1789 aged/ 70 Years'.
Sources
Books and journals
Pringle, I, Saint Mary Prestwich: A Description of the Churchyard, (2008)
Sather, K, St Mary's Prestwich: Conservation Management Plan, (n.d.)
Hartwell, C, Hyde, M, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, (2004, reprinted 2010 with corrections), 566
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 11:10:24.
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