St Germain's Churchyard is a large cemetery overlooking the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

Marske-by-the-Sea Marske-by-the-Sea is a village in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the coast, between the seaside resorts of Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea, although it is not ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

, England. Its church tower is a grade II listed structure at the midpoint to the yard and a landmark for sailors out on the sea. It is a remnant of a demolished church, services at St Germain's were replaced in 1876 by St Mark's.

History

At least two, possibly three churches are believed to have been erected on the site, with the church being dedicated to St Germain. The land for building the church upon was given to the village by

Earl Tostig Tostig Godwinson ( 102925 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson. After being exiled by his brother, Tostig supported the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada's invasion of England, and was killed ...

. According to contemporary records, the church was consecrated by Egelric, who was bishop of Durham between 1042 and 1056. In the early 19th century, the Church of St Germain was in a ruinous state, and so was rebuilt between 1820 and 1821, with the rebuilding seeing all of the church bar the tower destroyed by gunpowder. The rebuilt church continued to serve the village until the newer parish church of St Marks, was built in 1867. The village is believed to have migrated westwards in

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times, leaving the church isolated from the rest of the village to the east, on the clifftop. The creation of the newer and larger parish church, was driven by an influx of workers who had come to work in the ironstone industry, which had developed in the area from the 1850s. At the same time as the church was abandoned, the newer Parish of Redcar was created from parts of the parishes of Marske-by-the-Sea and Upleatham. The old church of St Germain's, was demolished in 1955, but the church tower was left standing on its own in the churchyard. The tower was a prominent local landmark used by sailors on the North Sea for navigation. The bell in the tower, which was over 550 years old, was placed in the tower of the St Mark's. The graveyard contains 17

Commonwealth War Graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

from both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

including those from the nearby First World War

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

, which was just to the west of the graveyard. Captain Cook's father, also himself called James Cook, was buried in the graveyard at St Germain's in 1779, two months after his son's death. He was unaware that his son had been killed in Hawaii. At least 50 ironstone miners, killed between 1860 and 1920 at Upleatham Mine, are buried at St Germains. The graveyard also contains the bodies of sailors and passengers who drowned at sea; often on Redcar Rocks, which the tower overlooks. The graveyard continued to be used for burials even after the newer church was erected in 1867, and was eventually closed in 1956, but smaller plots for ashes have been installed around the edges since closure to interments. The tower was

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

in 1967.

Zetland family vault

Underneath the chancel was the vault of the Zetland family, who resided mainly at nearby Upleatham Hall. Several family members were buried in the vault; *

George Dundas George Dundas may refer to: * George Dundas (1690–1762), MP for Linlithgowshire 1722–1727 and 1741–1743 * George Dundas (Royal Navy officer) (1778–1834), Royal Navy admiral and member of parliament for Richmond, and for Orkney & Shetland * ...

(1834) * John Dundas (1866) *

Robert Lawrence Dundas Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Lawrence Dundas (27 July 1780 – 23 November 1844) was a British Whig and military commander during the Peninsular War. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons representing Malton from 1807 to 181 ...

(1844)

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Yorkshire Regiment War GravesImage of the church before destruction
{{Cemeteries in England Cemeteries in North Yorkshire Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England