It looks like the quintessential English Country church with a couple of yew trees and a carpet of wildflowers between the higgledy piggledy gravestones.
The blossom from a flowering cherry floated in the breeze and drifted across the grass like fine snow or confetti.
A cheeky squirrel hopped up on one of the gravestones and watched me while I was taking photos .
Another view through the graveyard to the church. A church has been on the site since the 12th century [there is a Saxon font inside the church ] and local legend says that the site was initially consecrated by St Boniface in the 8th century.
Parish registers date back to the 1500s so there is definitely a long history of religious worship here.
The building itself has been rebuilt repeatedly; most recently after being largely destroyed in 1943 by aerial bombing.
Sadly, around 26 people died in the bombing raid on the church -at least 21 sunday school children and a couple of sunday school teachers.
The churchyard has a very peaceful atmosphere despite its tragic history.
This is the church's lychgate -originally a lychgate was a roofed gate which protected the pallbearers and coffin from the elements while waiting to be formally received into consecrated ground by the parish priest.
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1 comment:
Lovely pictures as always. I like English churches, especially in Spring with the green of the new grass and the buds against the grey, austere stone of the church building.
My favourite picture is the one with the little squirrel. It's a great shot catching the moment.
The info about the lychgate was interesting I didn't know that.
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