Historical Burials

CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, OLD HUNSTANTON

A notable collection of le Strange family burials, tombs and monuments can be found at St Mary the Virgin Church, Old Hunstanton, dating back to the 14th century. Among them is the unnamed ogee-arched tomb recess at the High Altar, traditionally associated with the family.

As the family’s documented history reaches back to 1086, it is clear that some of the earliest burial sites remain unidentified. There is, however, a plausible explanation: a number of those early interments may lie not in Norfolk, but in Shropshire—reflecting the family’s medieval relocation.

At the outset of the reign of Henry II of England, the early le Strange knights moved to the Shropshire frontier, where they served as a Marcher family on the Welsh border. During this period of expansion, connections were forged between Old Hunstanton and Haughmond Abbey, Shrewsbury.

It is widely believed that some of the earliest members of the family may have been buried there, reflecting both their presence in the Marches and their patronage of religious foundations in the region.

PRE-1300’S AND HAUGHMOND ABBY

In 1086, the church at Hunstanton was recorded as a “church without land,” standing on property held by John, nephew of Waleran fitz Ralph. It was likely a small, unconsecrated manorial chapel—without burial rights—so the earliest family interments would not have taken place there.

At the same time, Ralph of Hunstanton (Ralph fitz Herluin) held neighbouring lands independently of the four principal landholders recorded. Aside from the King, Ralph possessed the most valuable portion, though it appears that the parcel containing the church belonged to another. Today, it is Ralph’s direct descendants who maintain the historic association with Hunstanton Church.

Within St Mary the Virgin Church, Old Hunstanton survive several early relics of the original building, including an unnamed stone coffin lid believed to date from the 11th or 12th century. Now situated on the le Strange Estate, the Church may well contain remains of prominent early patrons dating from the 10th to 12th centuries. The piscina and the Norman font—still in place—have witnessed countless family gatherings from the Norman period to the present day.

As early as 1172, John le Strange I (son of Roland) a Canon, granted the patronage of St Mary’s, Hunstanton, to Haughmond Abbey, Shrewsbury. This transfer placed the Church at Hunstanton under the spiritual oversight of the Shropshire abbey. Later, the grant received royal approval in 1176, during the visit of Henry II of England to Shrewsbury. By securing Haughmond’s protection, John ensured that St Mary’s would remain supported during periods when the family resided primarily in the Marches.

In that same year, 1172, John made additional grants of land to Haughmond Abbey, followed by a final gift in 1177, shortly before his death about 1178 - early 1179. Such benefactions would, by monastic custom, have secured burial rights within the abbey church—an honour befitting a man of his rank.

Haughmond Abbey, located just outside Shrewsbury Town, was founded around 1120–1130 by William fitz Alan, a close associate of John le Strange. John had witnessed William’s early grants to the abbey before 1138, during its formative years. Although the original burial roll of Haughmond has not survived—leaving no direct record of le Strange interments—monastic precedent, combined with the scale of the family’s patronage, makes early burials there highly probable.

Following Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbey fell into ruin, and a number of unidentified tombs remain among its remains. As major patrons and benefactors, successive generations of the le Strange family would have secured burial rights there. John IV le Strange of Knockin (great-grandson of John I), further demonstrated the family’s active patronage in the later 13th century while serving as patron of Hunstanton. The Family’s connections were further reinforced through his marriage, which allied them with the Earls of Arundel and the Fitz Alan founders.

Although Shrewsbury itself possessed the more prestigious Shrewsbury Abbey—often favoured by the highest nobility—Haughmond Abbey offered a distinguished yet fitting burial place for a leading Marcher family such as the le Stranges.

UNIDENTIFIED FAMILY TOMBS

After 1310, the junior branch at Hunstanton undertook significant rebuilding works at St Mary’s. Yet between 1506 and 1643 there exists a striking 137-year gap in identifiable burials. This period spans two major upheavals: the Reformation under Henry VIII, when Protestant practice replaced Catholic tradition and burial customs became markedly simpler, and the turmoil of the English Civil War in the 1640s, when destruction of church fabric and memorials was widespread.

Substantial floor renovations in the 19th century further disturbed earlier layers. However at least three generations of burials appear to be non-existent—leaving historians to speculate whether they were lost to religious change, civil conflict, or later reconstruction.

LATER FAMILY BURIALS

Henry Styleman le Strange (d.1862) had outlined ambitions to build a family burial vault, however, due to his early demise remained unfulfilled, so the later members of the le Strange Family are buried in the Family plot outside instead.