Beckenham

BOOK BECKENHAM HOTELS

Rather interesting Beckenham facts

Click for places to stay in Beckenham | Today's best rates | Send in your views of Beckenham | Read visitor reports

Did you know that the lych gate at St George’s Church Beckenham is reputed to be the oldest in England and dates from the 13th Century? A lych gate with its little pitched roof adds a definite tone to a churchyard, but it was not originally for decoration – lych is from the Saxon word for corpse: bodies for burial would be brought in their shrouds to shelter beneath the gate’s roof, from which point the priest would take control of the rest of the funeral.

If you like this, Share it

Famous Beckenham people:

George Grote
Kate Lawler

More famous Britons here

Brit Quote:
Well, my wife and I were married in a toilet - it was a marriage of convenience! - Tommy Cooper
More Quotes

On this day:
1st Wimbledon tennis tournament - 1877, HMS Vanguard Lost with 843 Men - 1917, Engagement of Queen Elizabeth - 1947, Supercell Storm over Wokingham - 1959, Lightning strikes York Minster - 1984, First Episode of The Office - 2001
More dates from British history

click here to view all the British counties

County Pages