St Peter and St Paul Church, Shoreham, Kent

 St Peter & St Paul's church, Shoreham, Kent

Visited October 2020

The Church of St Peter and St Paul has elements dating from the 14th century, but heavy repairs in the 18th and 19th centuries have removed most traces. We were unable to get inside on our visit (thanks Covid!) but the pulpit is one of two which used to be in Westminster Abbey, and the rood screen is worth seeing I'm told (it includes the pomegranate symbol of Katherine of Aragon, perhaps a link to the visit of her and Henry VIII to nearby Otford Palace). The timber porch is late Medieval and worth a look at too.

The churchyard surrounds the building on all sides. Around the edges are areas still in use, whereas nearer to the church, where the avenue of Irish yew trees is, are many older gravestones with some wonderful inscriptions and memento mori. Do look out for one - second image from the bottom here - with the podgiest skull I've ever seen as a memento mori!

Church of St Martin of Tours, Eynsford, Kent

 Churchyard of St Martin of Tours, Eynsford, Kent

Visited October 2020

The village of Eynsford in the Darent Valley has a lot of history, with a ruined Norman castle, a scenic village centre (still with ford across the river!) and nearby Lullingstone Roman Villa and Lullingstone Castle. In the village centre is the church of St Martin of Tours, which dates back to the Norman period with, of course, many additions and alterations over the centuries, and was likely built at around the same time as the nearby Eynsford Castle. 

The historic churchyard is still in use today and contains gravestones from the 18th to the 21st centuries. Some of the early ones still bear well preserved inscriptions and carvings, such as that of Margaret Hayward with its skull, sickle, hourglass, orouboros and much more! Among the recent burials, the one depicted in the first image caught my eye, the deceased was clearly a gardener and this stone captures it so well.

As noted, there is a ton of stuff to do at Eynsford (and there is good walking too) and all less than an hour by train from London so if you are in the area to visit any of the sites or do some walking, do make sure to visit this church and churchyard as part of your trip.

Camberwell New Cemetery, London

Camberwell New Cemetery, London

visited August 2020

Camberwell New Cemetery (very much in the Honor Oak Park area, not Camberwell!) was opened for burials in 1927 as the old cemetery filled up. It's a working cemetery and crematorium, but the older areas from the 1920s and 1930s have some lovely memorials and are a little more wild than the modern manicured areas. It's perhaps not worth a visit on its own, but is on the Green Chain walk on a section which also takes in Camberwell Old Cemetery and Nunhead Cemetery, so be sure to have a look around, and stray off the Green Chain route while here!

St Mary of Charity, Faversham

Churchyard of St Mary of Charity, Faversham, Kent

Visited August 2020

The parish church of the market town of Faversham is surrounded by a large churchyard. Parts of it are open to walk through, whereas other parts are fenced off and I've taken photos from the paths that run between these sections. The church is all that remains of the former Faversham Abbey, and was of great importance in the past. As is usual in 2020, the church was closed to visitors so I couldn't see the Medieval painted pillar, the misericords, or the reputed tomb of King Stephen...

However, the churchyard has some brilliant monuments, some of which are accessible and others not so much. Plenty of them date from the 17th and 18th centuries, and there is a wide range of memento mori including skulls, hourglasses and winged souls to spot as well as over 300 years of local history contained in the stones. Well worth a visit if you're in the area, and hopefully the church will be open to visit again soon. And the cake stall in the market - if you're there on the right day - is amazing!

Church of St Peter & St Paul, Ospringe, Kent

 Church of St Peter & St Paul, Ospringe, Kent

Visited August 2020

This church, just on the edge of the village of Ospringe in Kent, near Faversham, is opposite the bier house already mentioned in another post. It stands near where the spring which gives the village its name used to rise (the name of the village means 'spring of the divinity'), and there has been a church here since the 11th century. 

The current flint church has parts dating from the 11th and 13th centuries, with substantial alterations in the Victorian period, including the tower which replaced one which collapsed in the late 17th century. It stands in the centre of a substantial churchyard with fields all around - despite being a parish church and near the town, it feels very rural. While many of the gravestones are Victorian in date there are a number of earlier stones, some with memento mori such as skulls and hourglasses. On a hot day there are also some large yew trees to find shade under. Inside the church (shut when I visited, thanks to Covid), are some fine memorials too. Worth a visit if you're in the area, and are popping over to see the bier house too.

St Leonard's Churchyard, Streatham

 St Leonard's Churchyard, Streatham

Visited December 2020

This churchyard is right on Streatham High Street, and when I lived nearby over a decade ago I used to walk past it on a weekly basis but never dropped in. So this winter, while tackling part of the Capital Ring from Crystal Palace to Streatham I took a detour at the end to come and have a look. 

It's not a very large churchyard, although it does go all the way round and contains a number of very old monuments which surprised me given that land here must be at a premium. 

The church mainly dates from the 1830s and 40s, although a few parts of the tower are mid-14th century. Inside the church are some historic monuments, but this being the time of Covid it wasn't open to visitors.

In the churchyard most of the monuments are 18th and 19th century, with some of the early ones having memento mori on them. My personal favourite is the 1826 chest tomb of George and Elizabeth Abell, with a splendid skull on one end and inscriptions, with other skulls, on the sides. There is some damage to chest tombs at the back of the church, and a few monuments (including the Abell monument) are on the Heritage at Risk Register. Hopefully something can be done to stabilise and preserve them.

The Abell monument

side of the Abell monument

Minster Abbey, Sheppey (Kent) 2020

Minster Abbey, Sheppey (Kent)

Visited July 2020

I previously visited this site in April 2017, so more information about the church and churchyard is here.  

It was a lovely sunny afternoon when I visited this time, so I was able to get some good photographs of the old gravestones outside. It being during the first round of restrictions in England, there was no access inside the Minster itself this time. As ever, it's a lovely place to wander round looking at gravestones for an hour or so, making a lap of the walls of the landscaped lawn around which the stones have been arranged when the ground was cleared.