Not far from my home is a gate into the lower, newer part of the churchyard. I walked round with my camera (not yesterday, which was too HOT to go wandering anywhere!) Mostly it's overgrown with long grass.
The most recent burials
These two below mark the graves of two of my distant relatives from long ago. One, the same name as my grandad died in the year my Grandad was born so two or three generations earlier?
A monument for a family called Hendry with names from 1922 right up to the 2000's
These 5 below are all from one family, with daughters dying in their teens and twenties. They have a familiar surname but as far as we know not relations, as Col's Dad's family came from Yorkshire.
Below is a monument remembering the members of the 34th American Airmen stationed on the airfield not far away during the latter years of the WWII. This monument was once closer to the airfield but right beside a main road where no one could visit. It was moved across to the church sometime in the last few years
and it turns out to be the grave of a Minister of the United Reformed Church who died in 2003.
And finally a 22 year old who died in the Military Hospital in Felixstowe in 1918
We learn so much from these inscriptions. I think the calligraphy on the one for the URC pastor is beautiful. Even though I'm pedantic about spelling, I think it is appropriate that the one for the USA spells 'valor' in the American way. Great carving of the pilot too. WW1 graves are SO sad - the huge, bloody* sacrifice was not just made by the troops, but by the mothers, wives and sweethearts left behind (*descriptive, not swearing!) Also, in settled small communities, the graveyard is a record of the families who have been there down the generations. Thanks for this thought provoking set of pictures
ReplyDeleteThe pilot looks so young - as so many were
DeleteWe love the meadow look. It seems more appropriate for the last resting places to be deep in nature; so much better than the close cropped 'bowling green' look.
ReplyDeleteSome people don't like to see it overgrown, but I don't mind
DeleteI love old churchyards. The tragedy and grief of losing so many older daughters is unimaginable. It is sad to see the old grave markers and stones tossed to one side like that. Here, in both the cemetery and churchyard the fallen and broken ancient markers have been arranged around the edges. Whether they are known to us or not, they may still have descendants in the village.
ReplyDeleteSo many people died before they were 30 back in the early 1800s
Deleteusually it was TB it tended to sweep through families
DeleteInteresting you have relationships in the grave yard. I went to our church and cemetery the other day and to see so many family names there. Yes it was a very hot weekend Sue.
ReplyDeleteHazel 🌈🌈
My family on my Dads side are all local to Suffolk going back many many years
DeleteCemeteries are such interesting places. What a pity though that the very old headstones are just piled up and discarded almost - although I don't suppose there are many (if any) living relatives, it still seems disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the reason that they are there - it's a bid sad
DeleteThe expression of the airman is excellently done by the artist.
ReplyDeleteHe looks so young...too young
DeleteBeautiful words Sue but so sad.
ReplyDeleteWar doesn't care how old someone is does it..........like cancer
DeleteWe're all piled in the corner and forgotten in the end.
ReplyDeleteThat's a cheery thought!
DeleteI always find graveyards interesting. The Welsh gravestones have addresses on and sometimes trades, which must be useful if you are doing Welsh genealogy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame the oldest stones are piled up out of the way - I wonder were the graves re-used centuries on?
It's possible graves have been re-used, many stones are way beyond reading, that makes some of those still standing dating back to late 1700s. So those in a heap could be even older.
DeleteThe churchyard cemetery is interesting, sobering and quite beautiful. War takes young lives and any life cut short is always sad. The gravestone inscriptions are lovely to read and think about. I've collected gravestone charcoal rubbings and like preserving the thoughtful and sometimes provocative inscriptions. It is sad to see gravestones discarded and wonder why this happened.
ReplyDeleteBecause I divert through this cemetery on my way back home from anywhere it feels quite a friendly place and I quite like the muddle and overgrown bits
DeleteThere is always something new to learn and a story to reveal in churchyards. I did so enjoy my wander around a small handful of churches in your county. The porches fascinated me....we have nothing like them in Sussex. Arilx
ReplyDeleteThe church near you is beautiful. I love seeing graveyards and particularly the older grave stones. Thank you for showing the monument to the American Airmen. My uncle was in the 445th Bomber Group stationed at Tibenham Airfield. His plane was shot down over the English Channel or North Sea. They never found it or the men. He was just a 22 year old farm boy that had never been very far from his home when he went to war. It's nice to see that these men are remembered. You may know Rachel was very helpful in doing some local research for me and she even visited the USAAF Memorial Library and mailed me some information and pictures from it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's so good when local people honor those who died far from home. In my new home in Maryland, we have a ceremony each year honoring the French soldiers who died here during the Revolution. I was very touched by that.
DeleteGosh, I'd think they could have done something a bit more respectful with those old stones, even if they were worn beyond reading. Just lining them up along a wall, or setting them up in a line as a neat boundary to the graveyard or...something. Sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Quinn.
ReplyDeleteI love cemeteries. There are so many stories contained there, and sometimes they can be teased out of the stones. Near our home there is a small cemetery. 200 years ago, a man was crushed by a falling stone at a quarry. Six months later, his son was born. His little gravestone is next to his father's. He died before he was two. His mother's stone is there too. She died a few months after the little boy. The poor woman had such a lot of heartbreak in her short life.
The graveyard is lovely, but I think the old gravestones should be treated with more respect. The German cemeteries look quite different, in front of each headstone is a kind of flowerbed as big as the hole that was dug out for the coffin. The families used to take great pride in having a nice grave. Of course, nowadays there often is nobody to care for the grave, so you either pay a gardener or let the weeds have their way.
ReplyDeleteHilde in Germany
I like the way some of the grass is allowed to grow wild, a habitat for wildlife.
ReplyDeleteHowever the casting aside of the gravestones is so disrespectful, it doesn't matter how old or worn they are they are still the headstone of a human beings last resting place and it's also disrespectful to their families. I don't think the vicar of the church can be a very good person if he has allowed this to happen. Even if they no longer have a designated place to mark a grave (if so what has happened to their graves?) then surely they should still be treated with respect. Appalling. Perhaps you could speak to the vicar about this? The thought that this could happen to one of your loved one's stones in the future should surely prompt you to see if something can be done.