One of my favourite places to take a local walk is in the burial ground of St Leonard’s in Ludlow. The grounds are now a naturalised area for people to enjoy nature and wildlife, an attractive environment that residents and visitors alike can enjoy. There are many trees including Yew trees which were grown to make bows, but as the berries are poisonous to animals (and humans), the trees had to be grown in places like churchyards where animals were excluded.
There are also some ageing Lawson’s Cypresses and self-sown Sycamores and Horse-Chestnuts. A large number of birds, butterflies and a colony of rabbits live in the grounds and there are many benches on which to sit and rest and enjoy the birdsong and the countryside views, as well as a few picnic tables and benches situated in a grass clearing.
I love to wander around the monuments and select interesting carvings, words, shapes to photograph. Often hidden by clumps of stinging nettles and moss or lichens each time I visit I see something different.
Perhaps some of you may find it creepy to enjoy a walk amongst graves, but I always find burial grounds so peaceful and relaxing and interesting. I like to imagine the lives of people who have gone before me.
St Leonard’s was first opened in August 1824 when it was clear that the old medieval cemetery was completely full. Space finally ran out during WWI and today the site contains 1400 gravestones, which have been recorded and now provides an important historical document. The site includes five listed war graves, all of which are now accessible to view. These are recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The monuments have remained in place despite repeated threats to clear the land over the years and the recording process not only recovered the texts of the inscriptions, but also demonstrated the order in which the graves were laid out showing how local social hierarchy and the ability to pay determined where the graves were placed.
The site has a long history. In 1349 the area was part of six medieval burgage plots held by Laurence de Ludlow, lord of nearby Stokesay Castle. Laurence founded a convent of Carmelite friars which continued on the site until its suppression by Henry VIII in 1538. The buildings were sold and demolished.
The Victorian building, (above) was formerly the chapel of rest and designed by George Gilbert Scott, an English Gothic revival architect, and opened in February 1871.
If you enjoy a walk, long or short, then have a look at Jo’s site where you are welcome to join in.
TRAVEL WORDS 
Love your photo’s and graveyards have their own silent energy. I often browse grave stones.. Have you ever been to Whitby in North Yorkshire? and seen those old stone headstones weathered by the ocean storms.. I often wonder about what kind of lives they had lived.. And those with stone headstones were the ones who could afford such luxury .
Loved the robin and the Lichen and how the moss grows within the engravings.
Thank you for allowing me to discover St Leonards 🙂
Sue x
You’re welcome Sue. Glad you enjoyed the stroll around this little nature reserve. Whitby is a favourite of mine, but last time I was there it was too dangerous to look around St Mary’s up by the abbey (it had been snowing and was extremely windy).
Yes it also had a cliff fall into the sea a couple of years ago and a couple of cottages near the end of the cliff were demolished.. I have not been for several years now.. But its a beautiful part of the UK. 🙂 and glad you have been 🙂
I’m a native Yorkshire lass so I have a soft spot for much of Yorkshire.
🙂 I can understand why.. Its our next best place after Derbyshire where we were brought up.. Although I was born in Yorkshire just over the border 🙂
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with cemeteries. I find them interesting to walk through and a lens on the world before us. At the same time, I find them very sad … a reminder of all those lives lived and now their stories forgotten. Sometimes just the dates tell stories in themselves.
Very interesting pictures Jude … especially the benches placed where burial markers are falling down. It’s like a place the world has forgotten.