This was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. The word “lych” is middle English meaning “body” or”corpse”. It was formerly used to shelter the coffin until clergy arrived to read the introductory part of the burial service.
Today at funerals, family members usually meet at the lychgate awaiting the arrival of the coffin, and the funeral starts as the coffin passes through the lychgate and enters the church.
