Measure yard next to church; ie the churchyard (8)
I believe the answer is:
cemetery
'ie the churchyard' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'measure yard next to church' is the wordplay.
'measure' becomes 'meter' (metering is a kind of measuring).
'yard' becomes 'y' (abbreviation).
'next to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'church' becomes 'ce' (Church of England).
'meter'+'y'='metery'
'metery' put after 'ce' is 'CEMETERY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cemetery that I've seen before include "Graveyard" , "place of rest" , "place of mourning" , "Place for burial of bodies" , "Burial ground" .)
