A Lych Gate (the word is from the middle English and Saxon 'lic', meaning 'body') is a common feature of traditional English churches. In the middle ages, this was where the priest met the body and conducted the first part of the funeral service, sheltered from the rain.
St. Mary's was built on land donated for a cemetery in 1889 by farmer John Sparrow following the death of his 19 year old son, accidentally shot by pitlampers. Lumber for the church was gathered by the Reverend Belton Haslam, the first resident priest of the Anglican church on Salt Spring. The reverend Edward Wilson succeeded Haslam in early 1894. In March, Wilson organized an Easter Monday 'bee' involving 16 men and five teams and wagons to move the assembled lumber the 200 yards from Fulford Beach to the building site.
Construction proceed promptly after that, and on June 3, 1894, the new church was consecrated by Bishop Perrin, and began serving the Fulford and Burgoyne Valley population.
The churchyard does contain, between the building and the road, "St. Mary's Heritage Garden, a collection of rare and endangered wildflowers, nurtured and protected by Salt Spring Island Pioneers." Best visited in the spring. There's a pathway of stepping stones to the left of the Church Entrance.
Historical information from Salt Spring Historical Society sign at site, and BC Historical News Winter 1991-1992 article by Anthony Farr.