The late Peter Hinman and others have researched a number of long-established Lighthorne families and some of this research is in digital form and can be accessed via the Archive page.
Surveys of the gravestone inscriptions in St. Laurence’s Church graveyard were conducted in the early 20th century by the Rev. Harvey Bloom and in 1985 a survey of the gravestone inscriptions and the memorial inscriptions within the church was published by the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry (LH150).
In 1999 a GPS survey of the graves in the churchyard was undertaken by Butler Sherborn of Burford, but this lacks accuracy.
In 2007 Irene Proudman and the late John Boom started the task of resurveying the gravestones and allocating them, as far as possible, to the 1999 plan. This proved difficult as the 1999 plan was inaccurate. Between 2011 and 2014 a number of members of the society, under the direction of Colin Such, dug up the gravestones which had been laid horizontal and covered by earth, triangulated the graveyard and plotted the positions of the graves on a 1:100 plan. They recorded the inscriptions and cross-checked them with the earlier surveys. In 2023 the complete survey results were reviewed and cross-checked with new information. A few anomalies remain and several of the gravestones located in the earlier surveys were not found. This is a link to the table on which the information is recorded LH148(E). The list of graves is alphabetical.
For a sketch map of all of the located grave positions, please click this link.
For a sketch map of all of the located grave positions with prefixes NW and W please click this link. For a sketch map of all of the located grave positions with prefixes SW please click this link. For a sketch map of all of the located grave positions with prefixes N and NE please click this link. For a sketch map of all of the located grave positions with prefixes E please click this link. For a sketch map of all of the located grave positions with prefixes S and SE please click this link.
The society archive contains photographs of some of the gravestones which were laid horizontal and have now been uncovered.
Transcription of Parish Registers
The Lighthorne parish registers are stored at the Warwick County Record Office (WCRO) under reference DR0018/1 – DR1800/6. They start from 1538 and are written in secretary script, initially in Latin, then in the 17th century partly in a mixture of English and Latin, eventually totally in English. The currently available online transcriptions of these records vary in their accuracy and Colin Such has completed transcribing and indexing the entries of the first volume, DR0018/1, from 1538 to 1715. We are grateful to the Record Office for permission to publish this work. To view the 1538-1715 transcriptions please click on this link LH263(E). To view the 1538-1715 names index please click on this link LH264(E).
Colin Such has now completed the transcribing and indexing of the second volume of the register (DR0018/2), covering baptisms 1715-35, marriages 1715-33 and burials 1678-1735. To view the transcription and index click LH308(E).