One walk we went on brought us past a Church, with a fascinating graveyard. The majority of the grave stones were in very bad condition, falling over; crumbling; and inscriptions that were barely readable. One side of the graveyard was very over grown, and presumably the original graveyard to go with the church. Only myself and my dad were brave enough to walk waist high in the long grasses. The others stuck to the opposite side of the path, where the graves were only a couple of hundred years old.
What was slightly unusual was that there was one recent grave; dedicated to the death of a one year old child. This grave stuck out because it had balloons attached to it, and when we went to look at it, we discovered it was a year since this baby's death. In a overgrown, seemingly forgotten about graveyard, this place obviously meant something to those parents who chose to bury their child here. A place that isn't on recent maps and that locals whom we asked for directions didn't even know existed.
Furthermore, what resonated with me was that this church and graveyard was built and used a few hundred years after the graveyard I was working on in my dig. Both were in stark contrast to one another, for a start my graveyard had no head stones or grave markers, whereas some graves were marked with large table stones. This graveyard was obviously Christian, with large crosses scattered about the place to emphasis their faith. Poulton's older graves possibly weren't Christian, and their was no portrayal of their faith found in their graves. It was really interesting to explore this graveyard, only days after I had been working in a completely different burial ground.
Thanks for reading, I think that's the last of the holiday posts- unless I find more photos, or think of more places to share!
Love,
Emily
xxx
