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| The Cooke Family Vault |
The History Of The Cooke Family Vault
When the Cooke family vault was sealed on Tuesday the 30th of December 1851, following the interment of the eighth Baronet, Sir William Bryan Cooke, few could have imagined it would be over one hundred and sixty years before the cover stones were once again lifted. So it was, on a Thursday in May 2013, this final resting place of the Cooke family inside Arksey church, was re-opened. This is the story of that re-opening.
Contents
- A Request to Open the Vault
- The Cooke Family and their Burials
- Locating the Vaults
- Opening the Vault
- Inside the Vault
- Inspection of the Coffins
- Shields and Other Interments
- Blessing and Re-sealing the Vault
- Final Thoughts
- Photographs
- Notes
- Further Information
A Request to Open the Vault
In 2013, the daughter of the 12th Baronet Cooke contacted a Doncaster company of funeral directors to enquire if an inspection of the vault could be carried out, to ascertain if there would be adequate space for further interments, should the need arise.
The question was could the vault be located? And if so, would it be accessible? Local historian Symeon M. Waller was consulted for assistance with this matter. It was through Symeon that I too became involved, by providing background information on the Cooke family for identification purposes.
The Cooke Family and their Burials
The long association of the Cooke Baronets with the village of Arksey is well documented on this site. Their lives and genealogy are explored extensively here, and their places of rest mentioned throughout.
In all, nine former Baronets and various members of their families are buried at Arksey Church. Eight of them were interred inside the church, while the ninth, Sir William Ridley Charles Cooke (1827-1894), is buried in the churchyard. The tenth Baronet was buried in Berkshire, and the eleventh in Cornwall.
Arksey parish registers offer the first clue to where the Cooke family burials lie. Some of the entries mention the ‘old vault’, while others mention the ‘new vault’. In all, twenty seven Cooke burials are recorded in the published parish registers, dating from 1683, until 1825. In 1837 national registration was introduced, so the published version of the registers does not go beyond that date. However, we do know that a further five Cooke burials took place at Arksey, of which two were interred in one of the vaults.
A full list of Cooke burials at Arksey can be found on the article, Cooke Family Burials at Arksey.
Locating the Vaults
That there are two Cooke family vaults in Arksey church is evident from the registers, and further mention of them was found there too in the following passage:
‘The principle vault is beneath the vestry, and a stone placed at the opening bears the date 1788.’
This vault was actually constructed in 1853 to house 34 coffins belonging to the Cooke family, which needed to be moved from Doncaster Parish Church following a fire in February of that year.
To find the location of the other vault Symeon consulted a memorial book published following the death of Sir William Bryan Cooke (eighth Baronet) in 1851. The book goes into great detail when describing the funeral and interment of Sir William. This passage from the book gave the clearest indication of where the second vault was located:
‘At the end of the north transept is a chapel, and underneath this is the family vault, containing the remains of Sir George Cooke, the honoured father of the lamented Sir William, and George Augustus Cooke, who died on the 5th of May 1808, aged 27, the elder brother of the deceased baronet. It is here where the remains of Sir William are deposited. The principal vault is beneath the vestry; and a stone placed at the opening, is the date of 1788.’
For more on the memorial book of William Bryan Cooke go to A Victorian Funeral in Arksey.
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| The Cooke Chapel in the North Transept |
The chapel in the north transept is known as the Lady Chapel, or Cooke Chapel. Monuments to Sir George Cooke (1628-1683), and the above mentioned George Augustus Cooke (1780-1808), can be seen here, high up on the walls of the chapel.
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| Memorial to Sir George Cooke |
Sir George Cooke’s memorial offers further evidence of the vault lying beneath this chapel, as this transcription of the Latin inscription reads:
‘In this tomb rests the body of George Cooke, Baronet, of Wheatley, who died a bachelor the sixteenth day of October in the year of our Lord 1683. And here waits for resurrection and mercy.’’
It made perfect sense that the second vault would be located in the Cooke Chapel, and this was chosen as the place to look for it.
Opening the Vault
On Thursday, the sixteenth of May 2013, a small group of people gathered together in the church to try to find and open the Cooke family vault. Among the group were, Reverend Stephen Dickinson, the church wardens, the funeral director, two local workmen, and representatives from Doncaster Borough Council. Also there was local historian, Symeon Waller, present to take a photographic record of the vault and its contents for the Baronet’s daughter, who could not attend.
The floor of the Cooke Chapel had gone through many changes since the vault was last opened, and it was clear that this wasn’t going to be an easy task. One inch thick boards now covered the floor, but a rectangle of short boards lay partially under the chapel’s altar and after moving the altar, these were carefully levered up, one by one.
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| The boards are lifted one by one |
A thick layer of dust was found to be under the boards which, when swept aside, revealed two solid flagstones which sealed the entrance to the vault.
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| With all the boards and joists removed, flagstones are revealed |
The flagstones were lifted with some force by the workmen, revealing what had lay hidden for one hundred and sixty two years.
As the dust haze cleared, those assembled caught their first glimpse of a handful of stone steps, leading down into a dark, dank void below.
From where they stood they were able to see the sight of lead inner-linings of coffins. The first time they had been seen in one and half centuries.
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| The vault is revealed for the first time in 162 years |
Inside the Vault
Descending the stone steps first was Symeon Waller, and by the light of his torch he was able to see the whole of the vaulted tomb. The vault was approximately twelve feet wide, by six feet deep (from the entrance to the rear wall). The brick lined arched ceiling was about four feet high at its centre and three feet high at the sides. There was adequate room for twelve coffins, and as there were only seven coffins counted, there would potentially be room for five more.
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| Interior of the vault |
Partially blocking the entrance was a lead coffin which had fallen on its side, to the right were five more lead coffins, stacked neatly in pairs, the nearest of which rested at an angle. Something had moved these coffins with some force.
To the left lay one further lead coffin, this too had been moved away from the vault walls, and lay twisted on its side.
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| Dislodged lead coffins |
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| Coffins lay twisted on their sides |
So, what had moved the coffins, and why were only the lead linings remaining? It seems that the vault had not escaped the forces of the many floods which had occurred in the village over the centuries. At various intervals the vault would have filled with flood water, and remained damp after the water had receded.
Originally, the coffins would have been made of beautifully crafted oak. Inside there would be the lead lining, which would have been sealed after the deceased was placed inside. It would have been water, and air tight. The outside of the coffins would have had hundreds of round-headed nails hammered into it, to form a pattern. There would also have been handles, an engraved shield, and other furniture.
Over time, in the damp conditions, the wooden coffins had rotted and fallen away from the lead-lined interiors. It is also thought that the sheer force of the flood water was responsible for the dislodged coffins.
Strewn about on the floor of the vault was much of the surviving debris from the wooden coffins, pieces of wood, metal fittings, nails and shields lay where the receding flood waters had left them.
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| Debris from rotted wooden coffins |
Inspection of the Coffins
Each lead coffin was inspected in an effort to ascertain who the occupants might be. The coffins had engraved plates attached, which would have matched the inscriptions on the shields, originally attached to the outer wooden coffin.
Nearest to the vault entrance laid the coffin of Sir William Bryan Cooke, the 8th Baronet, and the last Cooke family member to be interred in the vault. The plate on the coffin carried the following inscription:
‘Herein is the body of Sir William Bryan Cooke, Bart. And Lord of the Manor of Arksey, and patron of this church. He was born on the 3rd of March, 1782, and died on the 24th of December 1851.’
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| Sir William Bryan Cooke's coffin (centre) |
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| Inscription on the coffin lining |
A smaller coffin found lying on its side was that of Louisa Janetta Cooke, the eldest daughter of the aforementioned William Bryan and his wife Isabella Cecilia. Louisa was only fourteen years old when she died in 1838. The inscription reads as follows:
‘Louisa Janetta Cooke, died July 12th, 1838, aged 14 years.’
Her coffin had originally been placed on top of that of her father, but the force of the flood waters had likely pushed it to the floor. Reverend Dickinson advised that Louisa’s coffin should be placed back on top of her father’s, which it duly was.
Of the four coffins stacked in pairs, only the top two were accessible for identification. These belonged to Sir George, the 7th Baronet, and his first wife, Frances Jory (Middleton) Cooke. Sir George was born in 1745, and died on the 2nd of June, 1823. His coffin in the far corner of the vault was badly damaged and had burst open, revealing his remains. Frances Jory Cooke died in 1796 and her coffin lay beside that of her husband.
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| Sir George and Frances Jory Cooke's coffins |
The only other coffin which could be positively identified was the one lying alone on the left side of the vault. This one turned out to belong to Frances Ramsden, a Cooke by birth who had married a vicar of Arksey.
Frances Elizabeth Cooke was the eldest child of Sir George and Frances Jory Cooke. She was born in 1772 and married Reverend John Ramsden in 1790. The Reverend was vicar of Arksey between 1791 and 1831. Their son, Frank Ramsden of Hexthorpe Hall, famously became Commander in the Royal Navy and sailed with Lord Admiral Nelson’s right-hand man Hallowell. Frances died on the 13th of December 1843, and it was her coffin which sat alone on the far-side of the vault.
Frances Ramsden’s coffin was straightened and placed back in its probable original location.
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| Frances Ramsden's coffin straightened and re-placed |
By now, five of the seven coffins had been identified. Of the two inaccessible ones it is impossible to say for certain whom they belonged to. The shields with their inscriptions on are most likely trapped beneath the coffins above them. However, there are clues as to who might occupy these two.
As mentioned earlier, up on the wall of the Cooke Chapel in the north transept of the church is a memorial to the brother of the 8th Baronet, Sir William Bryan Cooke, which reads:
‘Sacred to the memory of George Augustus Cooke Esq. who died on the 5th of May 1808, aged 27 years.'
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| Memorial to George Augustus Cooke |
George Augustus is recorded in the Arksey parish register as being buried in the ‘old vault’ at Arksey church. Some of the other burials already identified in the vault are also described in the registers as being interred in the ‘old vault’, so for this reason, we must assume that the vault examined in 2013 is the ‘old vault’, and that George Augustus could occupy one of the bottom-most lead coffins.
A clue to the remaining unknown lead coffin is in the Arksey parish registers, in an entry for 1794, which reads as follows:
‘1794, 24 Jan, Mrs Priscilla Cooke spinster from Doncaster aged 74 years old vault.’
The fact that this burial mentions the ‘old vault’ makes it an obvious candidate for the final coffin. Priscilla Cooke was a daughter of the fourth Baronet, Sir Bryan Cooke (1684-1734), and his wife Priscilla (Squire). The use of the term ‘Mrs’ in the register, is probably just a mistake as she is also termed a ‘spinster’.
Shields and Other Interments
As stated before, scattered around the floor of the vault was various detritus from rotted coffins. Among the items examined were three shields which had previously been attached to wooden coffins.
One of the shields belonged to the coffin of Louisa Janetta Cooke, whose lead coffin had previously been identified. Another shield belonged to Mary Cooke (1755-1825), the sister of the 7th Baronet, Sir George. A third shield was in the name of Harriet Cooke. Harriet was the second wife of Sir George, the 7th Baronet, whom he had married two years after the death of Frances Jory. The shield proved difficult to read, but with the help of follow-up research it was found that Harriet, who was born around 1757, had died on the 25th of June 1814, at the age of 57.
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| Louisa Janetta's coffin shield |
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| Harriet Cooke's coffin shield |
Amongst the coffin debris, a number of bones and four skulls were discovered. These skulls can only have come from coffins without lead linings. The skulls were quite small, leading to the assumption that they were probably children who had died in infancy. Three such children were found in the parish registers, all of them children of Sir George (7th Bt) and Frances Jory Cooke. The couple had ten surviving children, but three more are listed among the burials, as follows:
‘1779, 26 Mar, George son of Sir G. Cooke of Wheatley Bart.’
‘1779, 5 Nov, Sophia daughter of Sir G. Cooke of Wheatley Baronet.’
(Born 27th May 1774).
‘1786, 18 Oct, Caroline Matilda daughter of Sir George Cooke Bart of Wheatley aged 7 weeks.’
(Baptised on the 5th October 1786).
The registers do not state which vault (if any) they were buried in, but the fact that both their parents were interred in the old vault makes it highly probable that these children were also interred in this vault. Interestingly, the names ‘George’ and ‘Sophia’ were also given to two of the couple’s later, surviving children.
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| Human remains lying in the vault |
Blessing and Re-sealing the Vault
With the vault fully examined and straightened, Reverend Dickinson conducted a simple service of blessing, and sprinkled holy water over the coffins before leaving the Cooke Baronets and their family members to rest in peace once more.
The cover stones were replaced and the wooden joists slotted back over them. The floor boards were then replaced and screwed down. The altar was placed back over the new boards and everything tidied away, leaving the area as it was before the day’s investigations had taken place.
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| Coffins straightened and re-stacked |
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| Resealing the vault |
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| Replacement floorboards |
Final Thoughts
Following the opening of the vault, Symeon wrote a full account of the day for the Cooke family, future reference, and for publication. He kindly passed on all the photos he took to me and gave me permission to publish the story here, being relevant to the history of Arksey.
I have told the story, in my own words, as he related it, with the addition of a little of my own research. Of course, there are questions raised by the opening of the vault which can’t be answered here, such as, when was the vault created? In my opinion the vault has probably been dug out of the foundations of the church; stone walls are visible, but whether original or not cannot be verified. The most compelling clue to the age of the old vault has to be the inscription on Sir George Cooke’s monument in the Cooke chapel. It clearly states that the first Baronet was buried there in 1683, so we must assume that the vault was prepared for him. The ‘new’ vault is dated to 1788, and going on entries in the parish register, burials seem to have been placed in both vaults after this date.
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| A section of the vault walls |
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Notes
Please note, all photos relating to the vault opening are copyright to Symeon Mark Waller. They must not be copied or published elsewhere. They are reproduced here with the kind permission of Mr Waller.
This article has been published with the kind permission of the Cooke family.
Further information
Symeon Mark Waller is a Doncaster historian with a number of published books available.
His book 'An Extraordinary Day - The Opening of the Cooke Family Vault' is available to buy at Amazon
Alison Vainlo
Written 2014, updated 2020
