Draycot Cerne - Parish Registers

The earliest surviving Parish Register for Draycot Cerne dates back to 1605. The Registers are often quite significant, as they record the deaths of members of the Long family - the Lords of the Manor, many of whom have memorials in St James's Church.

There are also a number of 'Memoranda' in the Registers. Priests and Churchwardens often used the Registers as notebooks, to record items of interest as well as the straightforward facts of names and dates. For example, the following note from 1868 records an inscription on a tombstone in the churchyard, dating from 1748.

Similarly, a Memorandum from 1742 records the gift of a new scarlet pulpit cloth from the Right Honourable Emma Long.