The author Barbara Cooper is a retired Royal Air Force officer and a volunteer for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The views expressed below are hers alone and do not represent the CWGC. The main image shows the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, Ypres, Belgium Despite it being more than 100 years since […]
It seems very likely that the custom of placing flowers on graves was unique to Wales (at least withing the UK), until the middle of the 19th century. Some of the many 18th and 19th century English visitors to Wales who mentioned the practice suggested that it was worthy of emulating in England, which implies […]
“Don’t look up!” – good advice for the fainthearted crossing a churchyard at dusk – you may encounter fearsome faces leering at you from above. This article explores the wonderful fantasy world of church gargoyles and grotesques. These consist of faces or whole bodies of humans, devils, domestic animals and fabulous beasts carved in stone. […]
Guest blog post written by Judith Leigh, CfGA Trustee and member of Diocesan Advisory Committees. The boundary of a churchyard is very significant as it separates off a consecrated space, which is also commonly (though not always) used for burials and is also a place where people historically might claim sanctuary. Most often this boundary […]