In the Middle Ages, Shingay had a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers. Because the Order was exempt from Interdicts (bans on religious rites), they could bury the dead even when other churches could not.
This led to a persistent legend that bodies were “spirited away by night in a Fairy Cart to Shingay.” The “Fairy Cart” is believed to be a linguistic echo of the word feretorium (the bier on wheels used to transport the bodies).