Christchurch Priory, Dorset

Christchurch Priory, Christchurch, Dorset

Visited February 2019

Christchurch Priory has a long history, going back to the 11th century if not earlier. It was the priory church of an Augustinian Priory until the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Priory is large - bigger than quite a few cathedrals, and is one of the longest parish churches in England. The surrounding graveyard appears to be mainly Victorian, although on a cold, wet winter's day I wasn't hanging around to explore for too long, and most of the stones are weathered and fairly illegible.

Inside the priory there are a number of historic memorials, not least a large memorial to Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary (and Percy's heart) are buried at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth, but that church rejected the memorial due to its size. 

This is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area (hopefully on a sunnier day!). Find the Miraculous Beam in the priory (fixed by a mysterious carpenter, and the reason for the priory's name) and do visit the nearby castle mound too.

Prehistoric Burials, West Penwith, Cornwall

Lanyon Quoit, Mulfra Quoit and Ballowall Barrow, West Penwith, Cornwall

Visited October 2019

Something a bit different this time - a combination of two of my favourite things (graves and prehistoric archaeology - yes, I am that person!). Cornwall is scattered with prehistoric sites, and in October last year I was able to visit a few of them in the far west of the county, near to Lands End. 

Lanyon quoit (quoit's the Cornish word for a dolmen) is in a field near the road - it looks impressive, even surrounded by cows, but is sadly a reconstruction of the original monument which collapsed in 1815. Prior to that it was taller, and had 4 supporting stones. It stands at the end of a much eroded Neolithic long barrow. Inauthentic perhaps, but well worth a visit!

Mulfra quoit is another Neolithic dolmen. The photo is quite distant, as so was I - this one is a bit of a hike to get to, on the top of a hill, and we didn't have time to get all the way there. The capstone has slipped off its three supports, giving it the appearance here.

A bit later in date is Ballowall Barrow, which contains both Neolithic and Bronze Age burials - it's quite unique due to that. The barrow is 22m across, and despite the National Trust sign nearby, it's quite hard to spot among the rocks and moorland! It's on the cliff near St Just and Cape Cornwall, with views over old tin mines and the sea. The tin mines are what preserved it - for many years it was buried under mining waste until its discovery in the 1870s. 

Nunhead Cemetery, London (2020)

Nunhead Cemetery, London

Visited May 2020

London, the UK and indeed most of the world might be under some form of quarantine lockdown at the moment, but thankfully we're still allowed out for some exercise. 

Last weekend's walk took me to the re-opened Nunhead Cemetery (it was closed from mid-March until late April due to social distancing guidelines). It was a grey, overcast day which was probably keeping some people away, so the cemetery was no more busy than it was in the past. After a few weeks of being closed, it seemed the greenery was lusher than ever, the wildlife a bit less cautious (so many little robins hopping about close to me - but just too far or fast for my phone camera to capture).  As ever, this is a place of nature and contemplation, and it's a real haven at this time, a reminder perhaps that although death is inevitable, life continues, spring still happens and the flowers still bloom.

St Peter & St Paul's Church, Chaldon, November 2019

St Peter & St Paul's Church, Chaldon, Surrey

Visited November 2019

This little church south of Croydon is tucked away in the village of Chaldon in the Surrey Downs. I walked to it from Coulsdon, via Happy Valley, which is a lovely circular walk of about 6 miles. The churchyard itself is nothing spectacular - some older graves, but mostly Victorian and 20th century. What sets this place apart is the pre-Norman church, mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the 12th century Doom painting it contains. The church has of course been extended and amended over the years - you can see that just by looking at the outside - and has a wealth of history. 

The Doom painting on the west wall is possibly the earliest known English wall painting, dating from around 1200, and depicts 'Purgatory and Hell' and 'The Ladder of Salvation of the Human Soul'. It was whitewashed over at some point in the past, and rediscovered in 1869. It's been conserved over the years, and incredibly the church is still free to visit and open every day. If this was in a city it would almost certainly be ticketed! I can't recommend a visit highly enough, and if doing it as part of a walk the churchyard makes a lovely lunch stop too. 

St Peter's Church, Bournemouth

St Peter's Church, Bournemouth, Dorset

Visited February 2019

St Peter's Church in Bournemouth is best known as the final burial place of Mary Shelley (writer of Frankenstein) and the heart of her poet husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Also buried there are Mary's parents, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. They were orginially buried in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church, which I visited a month before this one (not planned!), but reinterred in Bournemouth by the Shelley's as Mary wished to be buried with her parents. All very gothic!

The church itself is a wonderful example of Gothic Revival, with a stunning interior. But then I'm always a sucker for a bit of Edward Burne Jones... Although it's in the city centre, the churchyard is quite overgrown in places with lots of mature trees and some lovely old graves set on the side of a hill. Don't miss the church and graveyard if you're in the area!

All Saints Churchyard, Fulham

All Saints Church, Fulham

Visited February 2019

There has been a church on this site since the 13th century. The oldest part of the present building is the 15th century tower; the rest of the church was rebuilt in the late 19th century after regularly being flooded - the current building is raised 3ft higher than its predecessor. Memorials from the old church have been placed in the 'new' building, although it was locked when I visited so I wasn't able to see them.

The churchyard is lovely, even on a rather chilly winter's day, which can be entered a variety of ways. The best is surely via the avenue of yew trees from the Thames side of the churchyard to the main entrance. 

This is one of the few churchyards in London (that I've found, anyway), with a number of gravestones earlier than the Victorian period. Hunt around and there are earlier stones, with their skulls and hourglasses and other such symbols. At the back of the church there are table tombs to a number of Bishops of London - the churchyard abutts Fulham Palace, the historic home of the Bishop of London, so it makes sense a number of them would be here!

Next door to the churchyard are the Sir William Powell Almshouses, rebuild in the Victorian period, which are private, but worth a glance thanks to their splendid upkeep, and the carvings on the wall nearest the road.

The Guy's Chapel, Guy's Hospital, London

The Guy's Chapel, Guy's Hospital, London

visited June 2018

The Grade II* listed Guy's Chapel is one of the oldest parts of Guy's Hospital, near London Bridge station on the South Bank of the Thames. It was finished in 1780 and features later Victorian stained glass windows and mosaic murals.

The chapel is in the centre block of the west wing of the original Guy's hospital, and is open to anyone to drop in whether staff, patients or members of the public. There was no-one else there when I visited one Saturday as part of a group. There is a large monument to the hospital's founder Thomas Guy inside the main door of the chapel, which has been there since the chapel was built. The chapel also contains memorials to hospital benefactors and members of staff, in particular in the entrance vestibule.

Closed to the public is the crypt beneath the chapel, which contains the stone coffins of Thomas Guy and other important figures interred here. A quiet, eerie place where one almost feels like they are trespassing on the dead, I was able to visit on a guided tour of Southwark's lost burial grounds organised by Southwark Cathedral. When such things are possible again, I highly recommend the tour.