In 1817 the church was built over a large vaulted crypt. This served as the parish burial ground until 1853 when the entrance was bricked up and its use discontinued. In 1980 the then Rector, the Revd Christopher Hamel Cooke, conceived a plan to remove the dead and bring in the living. With due authority the coffins from the crypt (over 850) were reinterred at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. A complete list of those re-interred is held in the parish office. In July 1987 the transformed crypt was opened by HRH the Prince of Wales as the Healing and Counselling Centre. The centre is open Monday to Friday.