God's Acre

Saturday 18 February 2012

War dead - Corporal Frederick Cater

Corporal Fredeick Cater 5940, 2nd/6th Bn., Gloucestershire Regiment who died age 23 on 19 July 1916. Son of James and Maria Cater, of 13, Ashill. LAVENTIE MILITARY CEMETERY, LA GORGUE The date of death is different on the cross and in the official record.

War dead - Machine Gun Officer Lieutenant KC Ford

Machine Gun Officer
Lieutenant KC Ford

"Machine Gun Officer Lieutenant KC Ford died of wounds received in Plogstrat Wood on the 1^st December 1915. This cross would have been placed above him in a temporary grave on the field which is why the cross has a large hole in the middle, obviously caused by ongoing gunfire. After proper reburial in due course such wooden crosses were sent home to the place which had once been the soldier’s home. "

"He was the son of Archdeacon the Venerable George Adam Ford and Ellen Isabella Ford of The Rectory, Ashill, Norfolk. He was born in Norwich and had been educated at Marlborough College"

Sunday 12 February 2012

St. Peter's Terrington - Norfolk

“The parish clerk of St. Peter’s, Terrington, has caused his coffin and gravestone to be prepared, although in excellent health. The former he keeps in his sleeping room, and uses as a wardrobe, and the latter stands in the church, ready to be put down when required. The stone contains the following:—

“This aged clerk, long ere he died,
His coffin had and placed by his bedside;
His neighbours all well know the truth is spoke—
’Twas made of Mr. John Perry’s best oak;
His old friend Death just touch’d him with his spear
And in pure kindness laid him quietly here.

“The upper part of the stone contains the name, with blanks for cutting age, &c., when the time of his dissolution shall take place.”

Title: Norfolk Annals A Chronological Record of Remarkable Events in the Nineteeth Century, Vol. 1 Author: Charles Mackie

Saint Mary Magdalen - Pentney

Saint Mary Magdalen
Pentney

Pentney is a fine example of a traditional Norfolk graveyard attached to a functioning parish Church at the heart of the village.

The burial space is relatively small as befits the small nature of the village of Pentney which did not see the massive growth in population witnessed by towns in the 19^th Century. Without the pressure of considering public health the graveyard could remain largely unchanged and unaltered through time.

The graveyard surrounding the Church would normally be consecrated after the 12^th Century and was established for the benefit of the village. Some parishes in Norfolk have a memory of fairs and events being held in the graveyard whilst others reference that the Rector had the right to graze his sheep in the graveyard. The Church at Pentney appears to have been doubled in length although the overall perception created is that this is a long thin Church without the benefit of height.

A long thin 14th Century Church

The monuments around the Church are varied and have the anomalyy of containing modern inhumations or burials and older burials from the 19^th century. There is no evidence of truly ancient monuments although there will always be ancient burials in a Church of this antiquity. It goes without saying that all Churches of this period re-used grave space with there being no ‘in perpetuity’ arrangements. Each person would expect to be disinterred after a period of time to be replaced by neighbours and family in the village.

The Church at Pentney contains some rather curious and beautiful monuments although the overall harmony of the older monuments is confused by modern granite and infilling between older graves. Interestingly, the newer ‘green’ tradition in burials in seen in Pentney where the field adjacent is being used for such burials. There is a tendency at pentney to use a technique that may be described as 'infilling' seen in urban planning where gardens are given over to new developments. In Pentney, apparently vacant graves are given over to newcomers with granite headstone created without art or style.

The dignity of railings

Old monuments do have 'something' about them both in their conception and execution and the older railings and brambles lend a somewhat distracted ambience to the cemetery. There is style in the monuments that is not echoed in the modern tradition.

Pentney is a lovely village and situated conveniently beside the A47.

Houghton On The Hill

Saint Mary
Houghton On The Hill

Houghton on the Hill is a magical place and a palimpsest where we find medieval architecture lying on top of Saxon buildings and all beside a Roman road in close proximity to a Roman Villa. The Church is almost the last building to survive in this largely deserted village.

For a gently undulating County like Norfolk, Houghton is an elevated position up on the hill and the views to the West are striking and amplified by the snow on a freezing cold day in February 2012. The silence on the hill is memorable and only broken by the call of wild pheasants. I have to acknowledge that on the day I visited a shooting party probably from a local estate were making a little noise and firing away with shotguns. Rural pursuits are still alive and well in Norfolk.

Multiple architectural styles

The fabric of the Church dedicated to Saint Mary is well documented ‘on line’ and a simple search revels a wide range of learned documentation on the archaeology of the site and the history of the people associated with the Church. I am also aware that the Norfolk County record office may hold a wide range of records. There is no reason to repeat the work of other people[1] [2] and I suggest that you read the associated works which are revealing and fascinating.

Roman tiles
in the South Wall

The cemetery is a wonderful place and it is the sort of site I mentioned at the start of this blog. Houghton is the sort of cemetery that set me on the path of exploring cemeteries and Churches. The Church and cemetery sit within the green land that is Norfolk. When I visited the Church and cemetery it was still covered with snow and looked for all the world like some sort of medieval fantasy. The Roman brick and tile set into the wall by medieval builders are magnificent and speak of a continuity that is profound and striking. I can only marvel at medieval man who by necessity hacked away Roman debris from a ruined villa and carried it here to the hill to build the present Church. I wonder (without any evidence) whether or not we have a Roman temple under the Church as found in other parts of the world where later buildings conform to an earlier use.

18th century

The cemetery is only separated from the wide open snow covered fields by a raised boundary of earth and stones and the footprints of wildlife make their way from the fields into the cemetery. The landscape has no real boundaries out here in the wilds and we are very much in touch with nature. If we half close our eyes we can almost see the people who built the Church and indeed there is photographic evidence of a ghostly visitor who is well known to keep an eye on the place. I should say that the local Territorial Army keep an eye on the site and have been known to stage manoeuvres in this area at night and this military presence gives the site an air of mystery and intrigue as imagine well armed camouflaged figures making their way through the night.

The building itself has a wide range of architectural styles although the cemetery itself has largely been robbed of its headstones or, more correctly, the headstones may not have been there in the first place. This was and is a lonely place and it may have been that burials were community events and largely without commemorations in stone. The few headstones that remain are largely mid 19^th Century although we do find 18^th Century headstones with their smiling putti looking down at the departed.

The small cemetery is unadorned except for the floor plan of earlier buildings which are laid out in the ground and this reminds us of earlier people and earlier epochs.

John Roope

We find John Roper who died on 20 Jan 1848 aged 65 years with a headstone that proclaims ‘Roope’ and his wife Ann Roper who died just a little earlier on 31 Dec 1847 63 years. We can only wonder at the personal tragedy in this household. Interestingly, the International genealogical Index (IGI) did not come up with this parish on a simple search. Perhaps the Mormons haven't found the parish yet?

The Church and cemetery are well protected by people living nearby and by the Territorial Army who turn up without notice or encouragement. The Anglicans and Roman Catholics continue to hold services here in the wilds. From the Liturgy in Anglo-Saxon to Ecumenical gatherings the Church still proclaims its message.

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