Cirencester - pt 3

I'm not sure what it says about me, but I've been photographing cemeteries for several years now. I come across them in different cities, states and countries and they are all different and interesting in different ways. I even did a portfolio challenge a few years ago titled "The Here and the Hear After." Graveyards or cemeteries (as we in more modern times prefer to call them) always leave me with more questions than answers.

cemetery on abbey grounds, Cirencester

Questions like who is buried here? What was that person like? Who loved them, and who did they love? What caused their death? Do they still have family that remember them? Does anyone ever come to visit this grave? Where are they now? As I said, more questions than answers but still interesting to contemplate.

Parish Church, Cirencester

In my opinion, older cemeteries are especially interesting, at least from a photographic point of view. So during our visit to Cirencester yesterday, before we even made it inside the church, I was already on the abbey grounds, photographing in the rain under my umbrella! The rain and overcast skies (I felt) sort of added to the overall gloomy feel of the place.

Thomas, age 18, died 1846

some stones have no writing left on them at all

The graves are not as well kept as one might imagine. No flowers adorn the grave sites, probably because many generations of descendants have long been buried themselves.  We only saw a single new grave in the very back. The only adornment on the gravestones was the moss and lichen that grow on pretty much every stone over here.

in the shade of very old tree

a panoramic view - late in day when rain had stopped

a sign said "we will remember"

moss and ivy growing on old stones

a visit from a black crow

love the carving on this one