The word 'lych' comes from the Old English word meaning a corpse. The lych gate is the porch or entrance to the churchyard where the coffin bearers placed the coffin on the wide seats, whilst waiting for the priest and the rest of the funeral cortege. Our much smaller lych gate is purely to provide a fitting entrance to the new garden and church, and maybe some shelter to passers by in wet weather.
Some more traditional lych gates have a pair of wide seats originally designed to shelter both coffin and pallbearers. Other older and more elaborate structures elsewhere often have a stone table in the middle upon which the coffin rested. In the days when coffins were carried over the fields to the church such covered porches would provide much needed comfort. A preliminary service was often held here prior to the funeral service in church.
