We warmly welcome you to join us at any of our services
Funerals and Churchyards
At the close of a person’s life on earth, the funeral service is the opportunity
for friends and family to express their grief, to give thanks for the life and to
commend the person into God's hands. The funeral service in church can be short and
quiet with only a few members of the family present or a larger gathering. We can
also offer a Service of Thanksgiving or Memorial Service following a quiet funeral
for close family and friends. A funeral service in church is normally arranged via
the Funeral Directors.
Stubbings and Littlewick Green both have burial plots available in their churchyards
(Hurley churchyard is full). Those who lived in the Parish at the date of death are
entitled to be buried in the churchyards if that is what is desired.
A burial plot for those who lived outside the Parish at the date of death can occasionally
be provided if they lived in the Parish for at least five years towards the end of
their life or have been on the church electoral (membership) roll for at least five
years. All three churches have plots available for the interment of ashes which,
in some circumstances, can be made available for those who had other close connections
with one or more of the churches. For further details please speak to the Vicar.
Pastoral Care
We have a team of pastoral visitors who have been commissioned to visit and offer
spiritual support and friendship to people in the parish. This is organised through
our Pastoral Care Co-ordinator Fiona Fieldhouse. Please contact Fiona on 01628 824574
for details.
Book of Commemoration
If you would like your loved ones remembered in this book and prayed for on the Sunday
preceding the anniversary of their death, please contact the Parish Office and fill
in the form for the 'Book of Remembrance'
In 2000, as a Millenium project, a group of volunteers completely surveyed the Hurley
Churchyard, recording all of the headstones and footstones. All the legible inscriptions
were recorded, together with photographs taken. These were then collated with the
entries in the Burial Books of Hurley and all this information was collated together
with maps etc into a 300 page book entitled "The Monuments of St Mary the Virgin,
Hurley. A copy of this book is available for reference inside Hurley Church. Burial
records prior to 2000 are kept in the Berkshire Record Office in Coley Ave, Reading.
together with Baptism and Marriage Records. There are photocopies of most of these
held by David Burfitt on 01628 823503.
St James the Less, Stubbings
Records of burials within the churchyard of St James the Less can be very helpful
in the tracing of family histories. Some years ago Parish Churches were required
to deposit old record books in the County Archives Office in Reading and you can
access the older records, up to 1933, of Stubbings Church there. Please note that
the front churchyard at Stubbings has been officially "closed" for burials for many
years and that some of the memorial stones have been removed so it may not be possible
to identify exactly where a person was buried, there are some details available but
they are not complete.
However, the church has in its possession, burial register books for burials since
1934 and a data base exists for burials since this date with names, dates and positions
on plans of the rear churchyard. Records are continually updated and these are available
for inspection. Please contact the Parish Office by email if you would like any
information from the data base. We request a donation to church funds in return
for the answer. Visitors are, of course, very welcome to come to the churchyard
to help make their research more satisfying.
