Westminster Abbey Cloisters

Westminster Abbey Cloisters, London

Visited June 2018

Did you know that there's a little part of Westminster Abbey that you can enter for free, any time during public opening hours? It's not advertised on the website, but go to the small entrance away from the crowds, in Dean's Yard, and say to the gate staff that you're there to visit the cloisters. And in you go! As you can see, it wasn't that busy even on a Saturday in June. 

With no ticket, you can't get into the main Abbey, but you'll see the 13th-15th century cloisters, the 11th century pyx chamber (the oldest part of the Abbey), the 13th century chapter house with some magnificent wall paintings, and the oldest door in Britain. During the week the college garden is open too. And of course you can get into the shop and cafe, just in case you do want to part with cash.

Of course the most magnificent memorials are in the main Abbey, but there's plenty to see in the cloisters, in particular the memorials to staff and supporters of the Abbey who weren't quite great or good enough to be inside! You'll also see the remains of stone coffins from some of the Medieval monks who worshipped here.

You can access this area as part of a general admission ticket, but this is one way of saving your pennies, and still seeing history!

Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

Visited April 2018

Some of the earliest buildings on this site were part of monastery, founded in 655AD (although there were Romans here earlier). The present building was begun in 1118, and is really quite splendid.

There are a number of splendid memorials around the interior of the Cathedral. Perhaps most important of all are the grave of Katherine of Aragon (first wife of Henry VIII), and the former burial place of Mary Queen of Scots, both of which are marked in a similar (modern) manner.

There is also a graveyard surrounding the cathedral - most of the remaining gravestones are Victorian, but a few earlier ones can be found, complete with memento mori, and at a back corner of the cathedral exterior are the remains of early stone coffins, presumably the resting places of the long-forgotten monks.

St Mary's Old Church, Stoke Newington, London

St Mary's Old Church, Stoke Newington

Visited April 2019

On the edge of Clissold Park is St Mary's Old Church, the only remaining Elizabethan church in London. It was built in 1563 to replace the derelict church on the site, and was restored in the 1820s. It's been replaced by a Victorian church (St Mary's New Church) on the opposite side of the street, which was designed by George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1858, although services continued at the Old Church. 

The Old Church is now primarily a community arts centre, and is open to the public to explore one Saturday a month - sadly not the Saturday I visited.

The churchyard is split by a public footpath from Clissold Park to Church Street, and gates lead off this to the churchyard. It was very overgrown when I visited, so not much exploring to be done at this time of year! Graves in the churchyard include some anti-slavery campaigners, including relatives of William Wilberforce, although I didn't manage to find them all, due to the drizzly rain, overcast skies and thick cow parsley undergrowth. Excuses excuses...

Churchyard of St-Peter-in Thanet, Broadstairs, Kent

Churchyard of St-Peter-in Thanet, Broadstairs, Kent 

Visited April 2019

I've visited this churchyard in autumn before, but in spring it is full of wildflowers, with the bluebells in particular in flower on this sunny Easter Saturday. Apart from dog-walkers, there was no-one around while I was there, and it's easily large enough to wander away from them, as they tend to stick to the main paths. 

The oldest part of the churchyard, nearest to the historic church, is the most fascinating for me, but there are also masses of 19th and 20th century graves, including a lot of war graves. Guided walks of the churchyard, either general or focused on war graves, are available in the summer. 

City of London Cemetery, 2019

City of London Cemetery, Epping Forest, London

Visited April 2019

The City of London cemetery is not in, or even near, the Square Mile. It's on the edge of Epping Forest, surrounded by woodland giving it a wonderfully countryside feel, despite its name. It's still an active cemetery and crematorium, so do be aware that there may be services or burials going on, especially during the week. It does, however, mean that the site has a cafe and is well provisioned with toilets!

The site is very large, and you can easily spend a few hours wandering around. There are multiple maps dotted around the site, in particular at the entrances and at the various chapels. As you walk round, you'll find memorials to the great and the good, and plenty of markers for where the burials from city churches were re-interred, having been exhumed due to overcrowding, the destruction of churches, or redevelopment of city burial grounds.

Most of the cemetery is well tended as it's still in use, but some of the older areas are a little more overgrown, and on a sunny spring day there were plenty of bluebells around the gravestones. Just across the road from the cemetery, you're on the edge of Wanstead Flats and plenty of country walks.