Wednesday 6^th July 2016

We spent much of the day finishing off the surveying and recording of the west side of the churchyard. Most of the modern graves are here so they are quite easy to record – despite being prone to occasional changes as new burials are made!

Their design tends to be quite homogeneous - sadly contemporary English gravestones are far less likely than Scottish ones to emphasise the individuality of the deceased person. I spent part of my holiday in northern Scotland recently wandering around graveyards (strange woman!) and was impressed by the ingenuity of some of the newer memorials, and moved by the little personal touches often put onto them. However, happily there are a couple of recent gravestones at St Mary's which celebrate individuality - for example, a lover of cricket is commemorated with a little carving of a cricket ball, wicket and bat. 

Repairs to the church roof are nearly completed and we are hoping the scaffolding will come down soon so we can start work on the north side.

In the meantime we have plenty to do setting up the documentary records taking the information from the fieldwork forms – this is a good opportunity for some people to extend their computing skills! Now the weather is warmer we can work inside the church on our laptops. 

Work is progressing well and we are still on schedule, which is surprising considering the delays caused by weather, technical problems, the roof work and having to work around the timetable of an active, living church. 

Jane Lunnon