The custom of hanging chaplets or garlands on the death of an unmarried person is still observed in the church of St Mary the Virgin Abbotts Ann near Andover, Hampshire.
As no record is kept of them it is impossible to say what their origin was or how long the custom has been in existence. The church was rebuilt in 1716 and probably any garlands then existing were destroyed, for the earliest shield now left from which the chaplet was originally suspended is dated 1740. Similar garlands are thought to be preserved in two Shropshire churches and at Matlock, Derbyshire.

The chaplet or crown is made from Hazelwood (virgin wood) or from oak in the form of a mitral crown, ornamented with black and white paper rosettes with five gloves or gauntlets attached on which are inscribed the name ages and date of death of the young person and texts and verses of hymns chosen by relatives. It is evidently a survival of the custom to throw down a gauntlet as a challenge to anyone to asperse the character of the deceased, if they can. As no one is able to do so the gloves are then taken up and attached to the crown as a proof that the purity of the character of the deceased is unassailable. The crown is suspended from a small white wand and carried by two girls aged between twelve and sixteen and dressed in white with folded handkerchiefs on their heads at the head of the funeral procession, laid on the coffin in the church and afterwards in the churchyard until the body is committed to the ground. After the funeral it is placed in the church, hung from a hook under the gallery, so that all entering church on the following Sunday may pass under it. After that day it is hung in its place on the wall with a small shield bearing the name, age and date of the person's funeral.

There are forty-nine garlands on the walls now though the oldest have only the hooks and shields remaining, the garland having fallen to pieces.

They are put up to either men or women who have led good lives, are church people, communicants, die unmarried and have either been born in, or connected with, the parish. The latest garland was put up in 1973.

The names of recipients, listed below, are also commemorated on some of St Mary's many finely embroidered kneelers.