Arnos Vale Cemetery at night

Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol

After Hours tour, October 2017

On the same day I visited Arnos Vale cemetery by day I also went on a night time guided tour. These After Hours tours are run by volunteers and are very well attended - pre-booking is essential. There's a small fee (£10), but it's well worth it!

We went around by torchlight, among the memorials in the landscaped and wooded areas, as well as down to the mortuary crypt to end the tour, with a guide who was super-knowledgeable about the cemetery and about burial customs. It was very atmospheric, particularly as I was there the night before Halloween. Well worth doing if you possibly can.



St Andrews Cathedral, Fife

St Andrews Cathedral, Fife, Scotland

Visited August 2017

There's been a religious building on this site in St Andrews since the 8th century. The Catholic cathedral itself was build in the 12th -14th centuries, but fell into ruin in the 16th century during the Reformation, after John Knox preached in the town against the Roman Catholic faith. The ruins are still magnificent, and free to enter (there's an entrance fee for the museum, which houses an amazing collection of carved stones from the Pictish onwards).

Most of the grounds outside the cathedral are given over to the graveyard, which has been in use for centuries. Most of the graves are from the 18th-19th centuries (the oldest are, of course, now housed in the museum), although a few older ones remain. A survey of the gravestones was carried out in 1978 and a scanned copy of the report can be found here: http://www.tafac.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/TAFAJ-Vol-4-15-St-Andrews-Cathedral-graveyard-survey-Proudfoot-Downham-Nickell.pdf

Among the gravestones are some splendid carvings - look out for what appears to be a skeleton in a hammock - and of course graves of some of golf's great and good of the 19th century.

St George's Churchyard, Deal

St George's Churchyard, Deal, Kent

Visited April 2017

The churchyard behind St George's Church, Deal, has largely been cleared to form a park. The gravestones have, as is so often the case, been lined up around the walls with only a few of the larger chest and table tombs left 'in situ' on the lawns. This was done in the 1950s, when the churchyard became a Garden of Rest (if an area full of dog-walkers and passers-by can be restful!).


Closer to the church itself there are some gravestones which haven't been moved, and which are surrounded by well-tended gardens.


The church was dedicated in 1715, with burials stopping in 1856 - this means lots of early stones with memento mori carvings, which are not too overwhelmed with Victorian and later memorials.

Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol

Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol

Visited October 2017

Arnos Vale cemetery, located 120minutes walk out of the city centre of Bristol, is one of the earliest garden style cemeteries in England. It was founded in 1837, with the first burial in 1839, and rapidly became the place to be buried in Bristol, whether Anglican or non-Conformist, rich or poor.

When you enter the cemetery there is a landscaped area in front of you, with roads leading round to the two mortuary chapels, one of which houses the café (with amazing cakes!) and loos. The other is closed, but it's possible to go into the vaults below it to see the catacomb burials. In this area also is the tomb of Rajah Rammohun Roy, a recently restored marvel of Indian architecture in the form of a Bengali tomb.

Away from the landscaping, the cemetery has the feel of a woodland, with overgrown paths and tombs set into a gentle hillside. It's the sort of place you could wander for ages in, and if you manage to avoid the children in the play area it's remarkably peaceful despite being next to the main Bristol-Bath road. I'll be going back again any time I'm in the area, as I reckon it will reward repeat visits at different times of the year.

Minster Abbey, Sheppey, Kent

Minster Abbey, Isle of Sheppey, Kent

Visited April 2017

Minster Abbey, also known as the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Sexburgha (to use its full name!) was founded in 664AD on the highest spot on Sheppey. The building has changed over the years, of course, having been partly rebuilt in the 11th century and then rebuilt as 2 adjoining churches in the 12th century (one for the nuns of the Priory, one for the parishioners). These are now one space, with the division marked by a row of arches down the length of the building. Despite further restoration by the Victorians, the church contains some wonderful examples of Norman architecture, and shouldn't be missed should you find yourself on Sheppey.

Much of the graveyard has been lost to landscaping and encroaching buildings, which have also covered up some of the sacred wells of the Priory. There are, however, some wonderful 17th and 18th century gravestones, complete with skulls and other memento mori symbols, to be found in particular around the walls. Inside the church are memorials, including a number showing late Medieval armour - effigy tombs of knights, as well as well-preserved memorial brasses set into the floor of the central aisle. Just a shame they don't photograph well!