| a roofed gate to a churchyard under which a bier is set down during a burial service to await the coming of the clergyman. |
lich-gate
(from Middle English lyche, "body"; yate, "gate")roofed-in gateway to a churchyard in which a bier might stand while the introductory part of the burial service was read. The most common form of lych-gate was a simple shed composed of a roof with two gabled ends, covered with tiles or thatch. Lych-gates existed in England in the 7th century, but comparatively few early ones survive because they were almost always of wood
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