ABSTRACT
In 1658, John Harvey, miller, of Earls Colne, left instructions in his will that 'my body to the earth to be decently buried according to the custom of the place I now live in'. Into the earth of the churchyard and under the tiles within St Andrew's Church were buried the bodies of at least 3,651 people between 1559 and 1750. The vast majority of villagers buried at Earls Colne left no funeral memorial or marker in the church or churchyard to honour their passing. It is assumed that the terms of the will would have been complied with, and that the testator was buried at Earls Colne as requested, even if no burial entry survives given the missing burial register. In Earls Colne, between 1490 and 1750, yeomen, craftsmen and below were buried exclusively in the churchyard, while the church remained the domain of those of gentle status.
