Arlesey walks: Amongst the dead

I have been getting out for more walks around our village lately and have been taking my camera along. We had heavy rain yesterday, but it was quite sunny for today's walk. I decided to explore the churchyard of Saint Peter's. This church dates back to Norman times, but the graves only seem to go back to the 19th century.

There are lots of mature trees there. A year or two back some areas were closed due to issues with falling branches. The roots may be responsible for the angles of some gravestones.

This wooden memorial near the gate is unusual. 150 years on it is still legible. I have made some of these black and white as it suits the mood. I was using the GIMP for this. It can simulate lots of different types of film and I tried a few.

These tombs have seen better days. I think they are Victorian, so there may be not relatives to pay for the upkeep.

There are several military graves from the two world wars. They are from various regiments and here is a naval one. Died at 19.

This one has an interesting spelling of sergeant. The Devereux family are well represented in the cemetery. I believe they came over from France centuries ago as one of several Hugenot families. Other common names are Rainbow, Dear, Houghton and Albone/Allbones/Albon. Spelling can vary are many people would have been illiterate. My better half has several ancestors buried here and we believe they had been around a long time.

This is the older part of the church.

This looks like a recent breakage.

There was nobody else around, so it was just me, some birds and a few squirrels.

I saw this guy scamper up a tree and he obligingly posed for me. The black squirrels are a mutation of the greys and quite common around our area.

There used to be some big trees that would block this view. I have been in the church a few times for some memorial events and musical performances. The vicar is a nice guy. I am not religious and so do not attend the general services. I do not know how many they get at those. I can still appreciate a historic building that has a lot of local significance. #Arlesey has a methodist church and two chapels that are no longer used for worship.