16. QUAKER BURIAL GROUNDThis is a rectangular area planted with evergreen oaks. Its south wall is missing so it may well have extended further. It was given to the Quaker Friends in 1667 by William Hempsterly. It is often referred to as the Peckover Cemetery and, according to Quaker records, almost thirty Peckovers were buried here. However, many other Quakers were also interred including Friends from the surrounding villages even as far away as Holt. The first recorded burial in 1689 was that of James Peckover the infant son of James and Katherine.
According to Quaker custom virtually all graves were unmarked. At a meeting in 1717 those who had erected memorials were criticised and their removal was ordered. Unlike church burials, there was no recognition of social status and bodies were placed next to the previously interred. After 1850 simple memorial stones were allowed and many were erected retrospectively. The man most likely to have erected the stones seen here was William Peckover of Wisbech. Joseph, the last Fakenham Peckover, never married and left all his estate to William. Joseph died at the age of 82 in 1836 and is almost certainly the last to be buried here being the last Quaker in Fakenham. The earliest stone is dedicated to Anne Peckover the first wife of an earlier Joseph who himself was buried in 1771. |
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