Until 1846 there was no church in Fairburn. The only church in the parish (Ledsham Ledston, Fairburn and Ledston Luck) was Ledsham church, except for Ledston Hall chapel, and a medieval church in Ledston, long since lost, meant no grave yard and the dead from all the villages in the parish had to be brought to Ledsham to be buried. No good roads made funerals very difficult, especially from Fairburn to Ledsham as the distance by road would have been at least three miles, and so the procession took a shorter route over what is known as the 'hills and hollers' through the Wumpstall Wood (Wormstalls) and then a few hundred yards to face Ledsham Church.

This route does not sound too difficult but when one realises that the coffin was carried by hand or shoulder, usually by the dead person's sons, across a few acres of open fields, through a wood and also taking a climb over fences and gates, the route sounds more adventurous: By the time the procession arrived at Ledsham, they would be sorry on more than one count father or mother had died: If the dead person had only one son then other relations would have had to help out. It must have been a sad sight to watch the procession, the coffin leading the way and the family and mourners following behind.