Inspired landscaping or vandalism, ........... the parish church yard

Now I know I said I would write about our own archaeological dig in the parish churchyard in the late 1970s and early ‘80s which is scheduled for spring but in the meantime I thought I would share this photograph.

Lois took it in the mid 1970s, before the excavation by Angus Batemen and his team and before the graveyard was landscaped. I still have very mixed feelings at the way the old gravestones were taken down and many destroyed. Those that were left have been made into part of the permanent way and already some are showing signs of wear and tear. Within another few decades the inscriptions which were so lovingly paid for will fade from sight.

Of course it is easy to be picky about what at the time many of us thought was a good idea, and some at least of the stones were already in place as part of the path from the gate down to the north entrance of the church.
But the whole sale loss of so much that told the story of the people who lived here was at best sad and at worse a sort of vandalism. True as Lois’s picture shows many were in need of a little attention but I fear we have lost a little of our history which will be very difficult to recover.

Picture; the old parish churchyard circa 1975 from the collection of Lois Sparshot