applied to Public Cemeteries. 487 



naturally be determined jointly by the form and position of the church, and 

 the form of the ground which surrounds it. If the ground be level, or nearly 

 so, then the outline of the churchyard may coincide with that of the church, 

 so as also to form a large parallelogram, in the direction of east and west, that 

 being the prescribed bearing of all Christian churches. There is, however, as 

 we have already seen (p. 477.), a great disadvantage in placing the church so 

 as to bear east and west, which is, that the north side, both of the church 

 walls and the part of the churchyard next them, is kept great part of the year 

 in the shade, and the ground is consequently rendered damp, and uninviting to 

 bury in. We are happy to find that in some parts of the country the advan- 

 tage of a diagonal bearing is beginning to be understood and acted on, both in 

 dwellings and churches. Indeed, no single building or row of houses, or 

 street, should be set down in the direction of east and west, unless there 

 is some very decided reason for doing so. 



If the church be situated on the summit of a conspicuous conical hill, or 

 dome-like knoll, then the outline of the churchyard will be determined solely 

 by the ground, and may be cii'cular, oval, or roundish ; and we may here ob- 

 serve, that, when cases of this kind occur, as they are not very common, we 

 think the ground plan of the church ought to be round, or roundish, also. In 

 general, the position and form of the churchyard ought to be such as will have 

 a good effect from all the different parts of the surrounding parish from which 

 it is seen ; while, at the same time, it should look well from its immediate 

 vicinity, and also from the different doors and sides of the church. 



The Site of the Church should be central to the natural shape of the ground 

 which is to constitute the churchyard, when that shape is in any way remark- 

 able ; but, where the surface of the ground is level, the church may be placed 

 nearer one end of the parallelogram, or other-shaped piece of ground, which 

 forms the churchyard, than another ; or even nearer to one side, provided 

 this is not attended with injustice to the parishioners. In general, the exact 

 position of the church within the churchyard, when not determined by natural 

 circumstances, ought to be regulated by the number of sides on which it is 

 approached. If the parish lie equally round the church on every side, there 

 will be at least four gates to the churchyard, corresponding with the four car- 

 dinal points ; and in that case the church ought to be in the centre of the 

 churchyard ; but, if there be only a gate at one end, or if there should be 

 several gates all nearer one end than the other, the church ought to be 

 placed accordingl}'. 



The Ground Plan of the Church, its exact position in the churchyard, the 

 boundary lines of the latter, and the different churchyard doors or gates being 

 fixed on, before any thing farther is done, the church ought to be built ; and 

 we shall suppose that its elevation is so designed as to appear to rise from a 

 platform of gravel or pavement, of from 10 ft. to 20 ft. wide, according to the 

 size of the church ; this platform, or terrace, being supported by a sloping 

 bank of turf, at an angle of 45°, and furnished with flights of steps opposite 

 each of the churchyard gates. Underneath the surrounding platform there 

 ought to be a deep barrel-drain or box-drain, for receiving the rain-water from 

 the roof of the church, and thus keeping the foundations dry; and from this 

 drain there ought to proceed others of the same kind, under each of the walks 

 which lead from the church platform to the boundary wall. These last, besides 

 carrying away the water collected in the drain which surrounds the church, 

 will dry the subsoil of the churchyard generally, and enable it the better to 

 absorb the water of decomposition ,• and receive the surface water from the 

 walks, through gratings placed at regular distances. 



The Boundary Fence of the churchyard should be such as to exclude every 

 kind of domestic quadruped ; but it is not, in general, necessary that it should 

 be so high as to prove a barrier to man ; because it may fairly be supposed that 

 most persons will reverence the interior more or less, and that those who 

 are without this reverence will have, in general, nothing to gain by breaking 

 into such a scene. We here exclude altogether the consideration of body- 



