I’d just settled to make a sketch of the church and a lady past by us on the path. Exchanging "good mornings" she added “I'm just going to see my dad". A moment later, looking over my shoulder I saw her standing quietly by one of the graves.
We were in the churchyard of The Church of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard, a lovely sunny morning, the chatter of wood pigeons, breezes playing the trees and one officious Robin, the avian church warden. The church was locked; however we'd come to see the grave of the grave of Nikolaus Pevsner and his wife Lola.
Pevsner conceived the idea of, wrote and co-edited ‘The Buildings Of England’ his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides. In remarkable undertaking He did much of the research work with his wife. I will return soon to this in another post.
Mooching around, exploring churchyards and gravestones and their incumbents is a favourite past time. A graveyard, churchyard, is often referred to as 'God’s Acre'. The word comes from the Gottesacker (Field of God). By the end of the 17th century it was accepted as an English term.
There is a national movement, The Gods Acre Project which recognises that churchyards oh significant habitats for nature advice and provides guidance for their management.
These are places are important just to be in and enjoy. And perhaps reflect on the words and dates on each gravestone or family vault. A few miles from us is the churchyard of Saint Mary's Purton. We often walk through here and admire the gravestones. Some of which are very grand, giving some indication of the prosperity of the area long before the industrial revolution. One stone, which must be at least 6 feet high nestles under an ancient you, impatient to expand its girth. The inscription reads
I feel this inscription reads like an affectionate poem.
There are according to the National Burial Ground Survey more than 18,000 church and municipal burial grounds in England and Wales as of August 2022 so there are plenty of opportunities to explore God’s Acre.
Spoiler Alert!
Clyffe Pypard and Saint Peter’s is another lovely Wiltshire wonder. We keep stubbing our toes on these delights. Here is its entry in Pevsner’s Buildings of England for Wiltshire. Nicholas Pevsner and Bridget Cherry. Copyright detail ISBN detail
The Buildings Of England, don't leave home without it*
* Don't leave home without it was an advertising line created by the ad shop Ogilvy and Mather, for American Express in 1975.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God's_Acre
