A village Cemetery

Blewbury is a village I pass through twice a day on my way to and from work, like most villages in the UK it has an old church (St Michaels) and churchyard which is full or not used.

St Michaels Church

 St Michaels Churchyard

Some of the old headstones lining the path to the church

Not sure if it's his grave or a memorial but he did leave a message.

Inside St Michaels it is worth looking around as it is quite old an still many of the features

Though the bell tower is not one of the places you can visit, I had an invite

 

The west tower has a ring of eight bells. Joseph Carter of Reading cast the sixth bell in 1586.  As well as his name and the year, the bell bears the legend Blessed be the name of the Lorde. Henry II Knight, also of Reading, cast the third bell in 1663. His successor Samuel Knight cast the fourth bell in 1689 and the fifth bell in 1704. Edward Read of Aldbourne, Wiltshire cast the seventh bell in 1752. John Hunt, who briefly ran a bell-foundry at Cholsey, cast the tenor bell in 1825. These may have completed a ring of six bells, until John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast the present treble and second bells in 1906. St Michael's has also a Sanctus bell that Thomas II Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast in 1819 (History taken from Wikipedia)

And an even more impressive view from the top of the tower.

Heading out of the village you will find two cemetery's  this older one which is dedicated to the men of the village who gave their lived in the war

And the new one which is used now.

The older one which is no longer used is worth a visit

There are a couple of war graves and one of a local paster and cricketer

 The cemetery is well kept and still have people visiting to leave flowers.

 

Though some grow on their own

One side you can find the small graves of children who have  passed away before their time which I always find sad

Worse when they have only been on this world for less than two weeks and now seem forgotten but she does have a bunch of snowdrops growing on her grave.

Snowdrops growing through fallen leaves by one of the older graves in the Blewbury  cemetery, beauty in decay.

Killed By Enemy Action

 70 years ago on the 10th February 1943 will be remembered as a tragic day in Readings history. On that fateful day a German Bomber flew in over Reading dropping bombs and firing a machine gun at people on the ground. Four bombs fell in a line killing 41 people most of which were in a restaurant called the Peoples Pantry.

A little distance away two little girls  Violet Brown age 10  and Betty Parsons age 11 must have heard the air raid siren and ran to hide in an arcade which unfortunately for them took a near hit. The wall near them collapsed and they were caught under the falling masonry and killed. 

 

 

They were buried beside each other in Reading Cemetery along with the other casualties of the raid. 

 

At the end of the row you will find this headstone. It says

"Here lie the unidentified remains or two persons killed by enemy action 10th Feb 1943 Rest Eternal Grant unto Them O Lord"

 

 

The people who died on that tragic day lay almost forgotten today, they will be remembered as a new memorial That was unveiled near where they all died.

  RIP

 

 

The Lost Boys

This is a post I have been meaning to do for a while. I came across this memorial to Harold an Earnest on Google Earth while looking for Pillboxes along the Thames. They are buried in Lower Basildon Berkshire. I went along to the church there to find the grave of Jethro Tull found this wonderful memorial nearby.

The memorial is one of the most Heartbreaking I have seen with the figures so haunting life like.

The words on their grave still stand clear as the day they were made

"To the dear memory of Harold and Ernest Edward the fondly cherished and only sons of Edward John and Priscilla Deverell of Church Farm Basildon who were drowned while bathing in a side branch of the Thames near home on the 26th of June 1886 aged 16 and 15 years"

They were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in death they were not divided.

I have walked along the Thames nearby and wondered where they had lost their lived.

Church farm is next door to the church and it must have been heartbreaking for their parents to look over and see their sons grave. Their spirits are together now and their lives a memory. RIP

Newtown Road

Newtown Road in Newbury was a cemetery I had heard about and noticed on the map while planing a trip along the Kennet and a nearby disused railway. On my way back through the town I had planed on taking in the cemetery but time did not permit this so over the Christmas Holidays I thought I would pay a visit and finish a part of another railway project of mine.
I found my way through Newbury to Newtown road and came to the cemetery. All the following photos were taken through the cemetery railings.

My first view of the cemetery taken through the railings along the road.

The cemetery lodge house now privately owned, either side are the entrance gates which I found padlocked shut. The notice said it was open from 10 till 3pm daily except Christmas Day, it was gone 10.30 an no sign of it being unlocked. Not to be deterred I set about recording what I could from outside the railings.

From one of the entrance gates you could see the footpaths through the cemetery.

 Walking to the South gate and the perimeter wall show the works access to the cemetery.

Looking North from the gate another footpath.

Walking back along the path you could see some beautiful memorials 

The whole cemetery looked well kept if not used any more.

One of the notices said maintenance had been carried out  on the trees  and some areas looked to have been heavily cleared of shrubbery.

Other parts looked like they were waiting the grass to be cut.

In the background the pollarded trees could be seen.

Near the chapel were more graves one with a kneeling angel.

The chapel looks like it could still be used.

Finally as I left I noticed a second war grave which I could get a photo of. My intension is to return for another visit in the near future and take some closeups of the wonderful monuments which can be seen.

Tommy Sopwith

As  a school boy I knew the name reading story's about the First World  War and the Sopwith Camel but never knew he lived near Kings Somborne. I had been taking photos of the church and noticed this huge stained glass window. The inscription to the left said "Twice his foresite saved this nation in time of danger" the name I recognized and I knew of the plane in the first war but what was the second time he saved the nation. It was not until I looked into it I found he Started the Hawker company with Harry Hawker which made the Hawker Hurricane that was a  part of the Battle of Britain it was one  of the planes which save the country.

The memorial window that piqued my interest

                          

   


The wording got me thinking as I knew the name but did not connect who to start with.                                                                                              

After reading this information on the window I found out where Tommy Sopwith was buried.







 

After a three mile walk to Little Somborne I found his grave at the east end of the old church there along side that of his wife.

Tommy Sopwith lived to 101 and on his 100th birthday the RAF did a military flypast over his home. He is buried in All Saints Churchyard beside his wife.
Tommy_Sopwith

James Rice a Beloved Brother

This might be seen as a cop-out as this blog was written back in 2012 after I visited the church, since then I have updated it on occasion with more information. This week I had a message from historian Chris Dawson from Brisbane who told me that the Friends of Brisbane Cemetery had cleaned the grave up and it was on Facebook. I had a look and sure enough there were a before and after photo. I got in touch with the friends who sent me the photo and said they would get a clearer one for me to use on the blog. In the meantime I have shown the one the sent off Facebook.
The story here reaches both sides of the Atlantic and concerns this plaque which is on the wall of a small church called St Michael in Eaton Hastings Oxfordshire. It reads
 " Sacred to the Memory of James Rice  a Beloved Brother who for many years used to worship near this spot. He was dear to all who knew him for his gentle unselfish and affectionate disposition. He was born on the 28 Feb 1843 and after a long illness and much suffering born with the greatest patience and submission to the will of God he sunk into rest on the 5th Aug 1872. He Died at Topeka Kansans US and lies in the Cemetery of that Town"
 It intrigued me as  poor James had died a long way from home and lay buried in a  cemetery far from his family. I wondered if his grave could still be found.

I looked the town up on Wikipedia then found the cemetery. This I looked up as well and found an email address I could write to and as luck would have it a lady called  Sara Judge Keckeisen from the Kansas Historical Society kindly sent me a PDF of the cemetery records for 1859 - 1880 and there in the list was James Rice. b Berkshire England. d 1872 Aug 5 Wabaunsee Co Kan. Rel Richard & Mary Rice. and on a Find a Grave link a photo of the grave which I saved

 The stone lay broken but the wording could be read,

" Sacred to the Memory of James Rice Son of the late Rev Richard Rice Eaton Hastings Berkshire England who died August 5 1872 aged 29 years. Thy Will Be Done Luke 11th 2nd" 
It seems such a shame the headstone was broken but I suppose at least it is still there. One thing that might have been of interest which not mentioned is what the poor fellow died from so if some one who reads this  lives near to the place and could contact the Sexton of Topeka Cemetery to see if there are any records of what he passed away from it would be interesting.
The photo I took is now linked in Find a Grave with James Rice's details.
RIP James
As a footnote I will leave you with these two photo's which I only just noticed while looking to see if I had any photo's I had taken for the Rev Rice and not realised I had,  beneath James plaque is a second

 to an Edmund Rice who died in Brisbane, Queensland Australia and Walter Rice who died in New Zealand. Both died on the far side of the world a long way from home. The second photo is of a Stained Glass window.

Written on the base is In Memory of Rev R Rice, Mary his Wife and Augustus Goodenough their son. I feel trying to find the graves of the other two may be a lost cause but maybe there is some one reading this in Australia
who will one day come across their graves.

RIP

Since writing this blog I have collaborated with Sharon who runs a blog called Strong Foundations. She managed to find out more on the two Brothers who emigrated

"Edmund Rice was christened 4 May 1837 Shrivenham, Berkshire, England to parents Richard Rice and Mary Goodenough.

He died 28 January 1878 (age 41) and is buried in an unmarked grave at Dutton Park Cemetery, South Brisbane, Queensland (section 9a, plot 45 - refer link below).  He is buried with his wife Lucy Rice ( born 1846 - died 16 June 1896) and son Walter Rice (born 6 Feb 1875 - died 8 March 1934 age 59)."

Edmund (a chemist) married Alice "Lucy" Buxton on 2 July 1863 Lewisham, St Mary

Edmund and Lucy arrived in Australia  on the 14th January 1872.  They travelled in luxury (more than any of my relatives) in a second class cabin aboard the Winefred with two children, Alice age 4 and an infant girl (Sophia) who seems to have died on-board.  They later had son, Walter, who was born in Brisbane 6 Feb1875. 

Their remaining relatives live in Queensland

 Walter was born in 1845 and died 10th Feb 1880, Dunedin, age 35.  He was a chemist like brother Edmund. He is buried at the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin, Block 144, Plot 13

PS in case you wondering about why I said Oxfordshire and the Headstone Berkshire the boundary's changed in the 1970's
I intend to go back to the church and see if I can find the grave of his father there and see if I can add a bit more to this story

All Hallows Churchyard

Just off Castle street in Wallingford  is a more or less forgotten churchyard. The entrance is of the lane which takes you to the George Hotel. For years it lay overgrown beside the Conservative hall. I never knew of it's existence till I walked past to the castle grounds one day.

The picture above is how I first saw the place. The church which was here till around 1643 when it was pulled down as part of the towns defences in the civil war. The cemetery remained in use till 1859 now it is used more for a small park and is kept by the town council. The large memorial you can see is called the Bennett Memorial and how it looked back in 2008

The Memorial with more tombs in the background

The inscription on the Bennett Memorial

In the winter of 2010 I visited the churchyard again

This time I had a wander around looking at some of the tombs there

Well the tow that could be seen and were in good condition

Another covered in snow some one had left beer cans on

Beside a headstone an empty beer case

There were more headstones than I expected

and the odd tomb which were covered in ivy

forgotten about, I felt if was a shame they ended like that

The Bennett Memorial stood out in the snow

You can visit the pace any time and you will pass it on your way to visit the castle gardens behind the wall on the right, I do see people go to the old churchyard as it is now considered a small park. It is good the area was cleared of all the shrubbery and is still there. One of these days I will pop in a gain and take some new photos
I always think it is a sad thing to loose a church and sadder sill they get forgotten. At least this little Churchyard  survives and is remembered.
Till Next Time Take Care