Why Is It Called a Lych Gate?
The Term Lych Comes from Old English for Corpse, and the Corpse-Gate Was the Route That the Dead Would Take When Being Taken for Burial in the Churchyard...
The term lych comes from Old English for corpse, and the corpse-gate was the route that the dead would take when being taken for burial in the churchyard. ... A small plaque on one side marks the restoration, and one the other, if anyone glances up, a notice about the heritage of the gate.
Why do churches have a lych gate?
A covered gate, usually at the entrance to a churchyard. The term lych evolved from the Saxon word for corpse, and the lych gate was traditionally a place where corpse bearers caried the body of a deceased person and laid it on a communal bier.
What is a church gate called?
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English lic, corpse) is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard.