Having returned to my Forest of Dean genealogy I made a visit to Ruardean on the weekend to have a look around the churchyad. I found a few family stones (Hale, Herbert, Bennett etc.) but the one that I was really looking for was nowhere to be seen, i.e. the memorial to John Hale (1696-1758), his wife Sarah Bennett (1706/7-1791) and their three daughters. I have a transcription of the wording from an index but I'm not sure which family history society carried out this transcription or when. Would anyone know when this survey was carried out and whether any map/plan of the churchyard was drawn up at the same time to give a rough indication of the location of the stones? I see that many of the older stones have been moved and been utilised in a rather, shall I say, 'imaginative' way and I am wondering if this is the reason why the Hale stone is now lost. Does anyone know when these 'improvements' to the churchyard were made.

I know there are lots of Hale family historians so I am hoping that someone managed to photograph the stone before it was moved. Also, the white cottage which is immediately next door to the churchyard was the home of Sarah Bennett's parents Richard and Grace. Their initials are to be found on the plaque over the door but this has eroded and the date (1728) is now gone, does anyone know of any photographs of the plaque when it was intact? I knocked on the door and the current owners said that other descendants had visited last Summer before the date 'fell off'!

James Phillips-Evans