Back in 2022, we shared the story of the discovery of an 18th century tomb at our Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes.
Senior Archive Assistant, Amanda Saladine, had been researching the history of the Walton Hall Estate for an OU Digital Archive exhibition. Amanda discovered that former estate owners Charles Pinfold and his wife Renea were buried beneath a large mid-18th century monument in St Michael’s churchyard. This was puzzling as all the gravestones in the churchyard had been photographed and recorded, and there was no sign of a large tomb for Charles and Renea. Perhaps it had crumbled away?
Then, while searching for further information online, Amanda discovered a photograph of the church taken in the 1990s, and amazingly there, on the east side of the building, was a large white monument which could only have been the Pinfolds’ tomb.
She immediately realised that the tomb did still exist, but it was so encased in ivy that it looked like a tree!
The tomb had been swallowed by an entanglement of ivy
After sharing her findings with the rest of the Archive team, they got in touch with the University Grounds Team who started to remove the ivy – revealing the impressive tomb beneath. Unfortunately, it was soon discovered that the monument was very unstable, and the area had to be cordoned off for safety.
The tomb once the Ivy had been cleared
In the last few months, with funding from the Walton Churches Partnership, St Mary’s Church Wavendon and The Broughton Trust, the tomb has been beautifully restored.
The beautifully restored tomb in all its glory
Find out about the Pinfolds and their role in the history of the Walton Hall Estate on the OU Digital Archive.
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