Abney Park Cemetery, 2018

Abney Park Cemetery, London

Visited August 2018

Abney Park Cemetery is one of the 'Magnificent Seven' Victorian cemeteries in London. It's situated off Stoke Newington High Street, and is managed as a woodland park and nature reserve, having originally been laid out as an arboretum as well as cemetery. This means everything's a bit overgrown, rather than manicured, but gives it character. On a startlingly hot summer's day, it was full of shoppers, walkers and passers by seeking a spot of shade. There's a visitor centre on site with maps, postcards, etc, and the chapel is often used for events.

The cemetery opened in 1840, and was set up for the burial of Dissenters (non-Church of England), with a non-denominational chapel at the centre. It is probably best known as the resting place of William and Catherine Booth, founders of the Salvation Army, but there are over 200,000 burials here to discover!

There is an ongoing events programme at the cemetery, and if you haven't visited before then the 1st Sunday of the month guided walks are a great place to start.

St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol

St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol

Visited October 2017

The church of St Mary Redcliffe has stood in Bristol for over 800 years. Although it is a parish church, it is both large and stunning - a Grade 1 listed wonderful example of Gothic architecture. 

The interior is no less wonderful than the exterior, with lots of light, a vaulted ceiling, and - of course - memorials around the walls and on the floor. The great and the good who are buried here include Admiral William Penn, a naval commander in the English Civil War and father of the founder of the state of Pennsylvania. I somehow managed not to take a photograph of that, or of the rather splendid 15th century Canynges tomb... Maybe that means a repeat visit is in order!

The church is surrounded by a churchyard, but all the stones have been cleared leaving only lawns and pavement behind.

Narwhal tusk in St Mary Redcliffe

St Martin's churchyard, Cheriton, Kent

St Martin's Churchyard, Cheriton, Kent

Visited March 2018

Cheriton in Kent is a small village on the outskirts of Folkestone. The churchyard of St Martin's is mostly Victorian, although there's been a church on the site since Saxon times. The church was closed when we visited, but it's apparently still possible to see some some Saxon architecture inside, and the base of the 13th century tower may be Saxon in origin.

The surprisingly large, 6 acre, churchyard (substantially enlarged in the 19th century) is best known as being the burial place of Samuel Plimsoll, creator of the Plimsoll Line on ships. This saved numerous sailors over the years, by preventing ships being overloaded with cargo. The church has an annual 'Plimsoll Day' to commemorate him.

There are also a number of war graves in the churchyard, and a wide assortment of family graves. The churchyard is at the top of quite a steep hill, and can be entered via a lych gate dating to 1897.

St Mary and St Peter's Church, Wilmington

St Mary and St Peter's Church, Wilmington

Visited October 2018

This historic churchyard in the South Downs includes a huge 1600 year old yew tree. There has been a church on the site since the late 11th century, so it's likely this was previously a Pagan site. The small church itself has parts of the original building, with Medieval and later additions. It was damaged by fire in 2002, but subsequently restored, with a beautiful stained glass window showing a phoenix rising from a fire.

The churchyard, around the yew tree, contains mainly Victorian graves and apart from the yew tree isn't as interesting as the church itself. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the area - Wilmington itself is a small village, but just behind the church are the remains of Wilmington Priory (now a Landmark Trust property), and a short walk away is the rather more famous Long Man of Wilmington.

East Ham Nature Reserve, London

East Ham Nature Reserve, London

Visited July 2018

East Ham nature reserve is formed of the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene parish church, which was built in the early 12th century. The church is still in use, and is the oldest Norman church in London which is still in weekly use for worship. The 9.5 acre churchyard is managed by Newham Council as a nature reserve.

The graves are almost all Victorian or later, and most are a bit overgrown due to the site being managed for wildlife, rather than as an active burial ground. There are some parts around the entrance to the church which are still easily viewed, with mown grass around them. Other parts are surrounded by trees, overgrown by brambles, or in areas of long grass. Somewhere in the midst of it all, the antiquarian William Stukeley, 'the father of British archaeology' who died in 1765 is buried without a headstone, after choosing the churchyard as his burial place during his lifetime!

There are various artworks (presumably made by participants of the site's various clubs) hanging from trees, which adds to the local, well-loved feel of the site. Mind you, on a hot summer's day there was no-one there except two of us wandering around taking pictures and cooling down in the shade!

St James Cemetery, Liverpool

St James Cemetery, Liverpool

Visited May 2018

http://www.stjamescemetery.co.uk/index/categories

In the shadow of the Anglican Cathedral in the heart of Liverpool is a park, which was formerly the city's burial ground, although many of the gravestones were cleared in the 1970s. 

The cemetery was begun in the 1820s, to be laid out similar to Père Lachaise in Paris, on the site of a former stone quarry. Burials continued until the 1930s, when the cemetery was neglected for a while. It's now a park, maintained by the Friends of St James' Garden since 2001. Having lived in Liverpool in the early 1990s, I can testify to what an amazing job they've done to clear up this space and make it feel loved again! It's a busy park on a summer's day, so taking photos or just looking at the gravestones can be tricky, with people playing football among them, picnicing, or even sunbathing on top of table tombs! 

While many stones have been cleared, a few of the more major memorials remain, in particular the Huskisson Memorial, and the sloping path down from the Cathedral to the park is lined with gravestones removed from their burials. Some areas around the edges have been left to become wilder (and there the stones are in situ), while the centre is landscaped with lawns. The walls of the former quarry have paths along them, with what appear to be mausoleums built in.