St Leonard, Dunston, Staffordshire

St Leonard, Dunston, Staffordshire
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The village church of St. Leonard's is medium sized, of Neo-Gothic style and was designed by architect Andrew Capper. Between 1876 and 1878 the old chapel was finally demolished and a new church erected on the same site. It is a stone building in 14th century style and consists of nave, chancel, transepts, vestry, and a spired west tower. In 1887, a new churchyard, given by the family of a former parishioner, was consecrated, previous burials having been carried out at Penkridge. In 1907, the vestry was added and a new organ installed.

David had two wives - "Both a joy to be with."

St John, Stretton, Staffordshire

St John, Stretton, Staffordshire
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The chancel is 12th century. The nave and transepts were rebuilt in 1860 to designs by the architect Edward Banks.

The mason got it very badly wrong.

"... six of their children who died in their infancy."

All Saints, Lapley, Staffordshire

All Saints, Lapley, Staffordshire
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The church probably dates from the late 11th or early 12th century. The nave and chancel are clearly Norman as is the lower part of the tower but the upper portions appear to be 15th century.

The monumental mason must have engraved the

forename of the deceased incorrectly.

A charming poem from a wife to her widower husband

Lapley Graveyard, Lapley, Staffordshire

Lapley Graveyard, Lapley, Staffordshire
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A general view

"Twice wed. Twice Loved"

Aged 102

"Just 40 years" seems clumsy - what about

"Just 40 years old" or "Just 40"?

Jack Waldron was an "adopted Kenyan".

St James, Cardington, Shropshire

St James, Cardington, Shropshire
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The presence of a church on the site is recorded in the Domesday Book. The village, including its church, was given in 1167 to the Knights Templar, and remained in their possession until 1308. They were responsible for starting the building of the present church in the later part of the 12th century. During the following century the chancel was rebuilt and extended, and the tower was added. Further additions and alterations were made during the following three centuries, followed by the porch in 1639. Restoration was carried out between 1852–68, which included removal of the gallery.

The tomb of Judge Leighton (d 1607) shows his 3 sons and 5 daughters - one of whom died in infancy.

We love these old fashioned boards that mention benefactors of the church.

Holy Trinity - Much Wenlock - Shropshire

Holy Trinity - Much Wenlock - Shropshire
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Much Wenlock Parish Church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and is a place made sacred by lives and prayers for more than 1300 years. The first church on this site was Anglo-Saxon, built about AD 680.

The present nave was built in 1150 by the Cluniac monks of Wenlock Priory.

Unusually there are no fewer than 3 sedilia (useful when the clergy needed a rest) and a piscina (for disposing of holy water) inset into the wall beside the altar. 

John Arthur Greer died "at the head of his men" during a night attack on a rebal camp in what was then the Gold Coast.

William Penny Brookes (13 August 1809 – 11 December 1895) was an English surgeon, especially known for inspiring the modern Olympic Games, the Wenlock Olympian Games and for his promotion of physical education and personal betterment.

Charles Gaskell was killed in an air accident whilst on active service.

Read this first!

The web site

http://www.martin-nicholson.info/cemetery/cemeteryfront.htm 

contains all the cemetery related images we took from 2008 up to the end of the 2016 season.

Each of the 1000+ pages was created using obsolete software (HotMetal Pro - from 2003) running on a very old Dell computer (Operating system - Windows XP!)

From the start of the 2017 season all new discoveries will be posted in this blog. As before all the images from any one church or cemetery will be kept together with the highlights of each site also appearing as separate entries elsewhere.