A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language, this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird. In England, the fact that in an open field village there were very few fenced areas meant that the yew trees ... Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchyard
Church'yard` noun The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery. « Like graves in the holy churchyard . Shak. » Syn. -- Burial place; burying ground; graveyard; necropolis; cemetery; God's acre. Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/C/77