I had through that the church was part Saxon, however I now think I was told it was Norman, only the end bit with the roof is added on.
If you walk around the church, the other side is just as big and also full of headstones
On the left hand side of this photo are the headstones that I have been concentrating on, there are a few more that need cleaning then I will start on the oldest headstones form the 1600s that are mainly lying down on the right side of the path
I have started to transcribe the headstones in St Mary's churchyard, it is going to be a long job to say the least. The first stint gave me approx. 65 headstones 21 of those needed cleaning. I was to find that the 21 were more than that a few weeks later.
On Friday I transcribed 45 headstones with ease, the following day I decided I would clean some of the 21 from my first trip........OMG what a job, most were covered in moss like carpet, one took 45 minutes to clean and read. I ended up with sore fingers, sore back and rather dirty, never seen ingrained soil on my hands for many years never mind the dirty notebook. Oh yes I found a few extra hidden headstones too, never mind taken a day off to recover just have to hope that the rain stays away.
I will take some photos of the headstones that I have done along with some before and after photos as I progress. My data base as over 200 names so far. If anyone wants to help............lol.
Most of the above headstones are the ones that I have already cleaned, the broken on in this 2nd to last photo took 45 mins to clean and transcribe.
My next mission...........just hoping it isn't raining tomorrow
