A Lychgate is a covered open structure,
found at a church gate. It normally consists of four or six oak posts
embedded in the ground in a rectangular shape. On top of this are a number
of beams to hold a steeply sloping straight pitched roof covered in wooden
or clay peg tiles.
The name is
derived from the Saxon Lych meaning "corpse" and gate meaning entrance.
Hence corpse entrance.
The lychgates
were built from about the mid 15th century. It was the custom at the time
for priests to conduct the first part of the funeral service under its
shelter.
During medieval times the rich were the only people buried in coffins. The
poor were carried to the lychgate and placed on a stone or wooden table
covered in a shroud before burial.
