Continuing on west from the porch, near the south-west corner of the Church, there is a large monument, which is a memorial to Dr John Cheyne, who died in 1836. This tomb is the largest within Sherington churchyard.
Before he died, Dr. Cheyne left specific instructions as to his burial:
“I believe there is a vault belonging to the manor, but if it be under the church I should not wish my body to be laid in it, but in the churchyard two or three yards from the wicket which opens from the path through the fields. I pointed out the spot to – , and chose it as a fit place for a rustic monument, without marble or sculpture, a column such as is represented in the accompanying sketch, about seven or eight feet high. On the monument, on hard undecomposing stone, are to be engraven the following texts –
St.John iii, 16, “For God so loved the world” etc
St. Matthew xi. 28, 29, 30,’ Come unto me, all ye that labour,’ etc
Hebrews xii 14, ‘Follow peace with all men, etc.’
As these texts. are meant to rouse the insensible passenger, they must be distinctly seen.
The following inscription is to be engraven on the opposite side of the column:
“Reader I the name, profession, and age of him whose body lies beneath are of little importance: but it may be of importance to you to know, that by the grace of God, be was brought to look to the Lord Jesus, as the only Saviour of sinners, and that this ‘Looking unto Jesus’ gave peace to his soul. Reader: pray to God that you may be instructed in the Gospel, and be assured that God will give his Holy Spirit, the only teacher of true wisdom, to them that ask him”
“If any objection be made to the spot pointed out for the interment of my body, let some other be chosen where the inscription on the column to be erected over me may be seen to advantage. The monument is for the benefit of the living, and not in honour of the dead.”
“I wish the inscription to be preserved, and leave this to my children and my children’s children.”
These directions were scrupulously attended to and the monument which marks the spot where Dr. Cheyne lies buried, besides the texts and inscription given above, bears only the initials, J.C.
More about the John Cheyne Memorial
According to Derek Ferris, in the 1980s, a decision was made to fell the enormous, but decayed lime tree, that was in the churchyard adjacent to the John Cheyne monument. The tomb is listed, as an ancient monument.
Major Chester’s help was enlisted in this project, with ropes, chainsaws and a tractor in the field, to keep the tree falling away from the monument and the church. Apparently the tree was completely hollow and dead. So the method was to saw all through the base and pull the tree over towards the field. The team accomplished the first half of the project and sawed through the base, attached the tractor by ropes etc. and began to pull, but the tractor was not man enough to do the job and its clutch failed. Then the decision was made to use a winch, on the tractor, this also failed to be adequate and the great tree began to topple and as it fell a large branch caught the corner of the John Cheyne monument and demolished it. Luckily the team were able to keep the tree away from the church buildings. The tree with the aid of Phil Smith was sawn up and disposed of.
Later a grant of £1,000 was obtained from Milton Keynes and again with the help of P. Smith, the monument was re-built.