Our History
The business spans five generations and was established in 1910 by William Samuel Gayton and his wife Elizabeth. William was, at that time, the Village Undertaker, Carpenter and Wheelwright.
The business was then taken over by his son, Archibald John Gayton and his wife Lilian. Their eldest son Arthur William (John) and his wife Maureen took over the business when Archibald retired. They are still proprietors of the business, although they are no longer involved in the day to day running.
William Samuel Gayton
Archibald John Gayton
By 1985 John and Maureen’s son David William had joined the business. In 1998 their daughter Jane Elizabeth became involved, studying and gaining a DIP. FD (Diploma in Funeral Directing from the National Association of Funeral Directors (N.A.F.D.)).
David married Liz in 2005 and they have two children, Henry and Lucie. Jane married Marlon in 2007 and they have a daughter, Ruby.
The business is currently run by David and Jane Gayton. The Funeral Directors are David and Jane, Martyn Street, who has been part of the team since 2000, Jack Cornell (David’s step-son) who started in 2010, Andrew James, DIP. F.A.A. (Funeral Arranging and Administration (N.A.F.D.)) and Keir Davis (who both started in 2016).
Taking care of the administration are Kaye Wilton, Danielle Tubbs, Emily Reed – David’s step-daughter, Sarah Holland, Harriet Synnott and Katie Wells.
Nigel Dawson and Andrew Ford are responsible for looking after our Chapel and vehicles.
Our Relocation
Throughout our 110 year history we have operated from our original Gayton family home in Bickington, having the privilege of tending to the needs of many generations of local families. During this time we have lived onsite or immediately opposite the family home, adapting this site and premises entirely to suit our changing business needs.
After much consideration we decided in 2017 that we could no longer continue to adapt our current premises and are currently building a new purpose built Funeral Home (Pickett Meadow, School Lane, Fremington, EX31 3UP), which will be ready for us to relocate to at the end of 2020.
Our new premises will still have a family home within its landscaped grounds.
Pickett Meadow will provide an exceptional location for the ongoing provision of services to families at the highest standard.
