Grave of John-Dyke

Michael Hill, on March 27, 2007, said:

In the churchyard is the ground-level stump of a Canadian cypress tree which was known as the Mourning Tree. The stump is carved with the date, 1996, when the tree was felled and in the angle formed by two paths that went round it there is a tablet inscribed: 'This tree marks the grave of John Dyke, who was hanged for rick burning in 1830 at the last public hanging at Penenden Heath. Subsequently, it was found that he was not guilty of the crime.' In fact, years after Dyke was hanged, another man made a deathbed confession to the crime. He was buried on the opposite side of the church, so that the innocent Dyke's unjustly maligned spirit should not be offended by his proximity.