Reflective angel in Aston

On a sunny day graveyards are simply calm and quietly reflective places - spots to sit and ponder the environment around one.  I have even seen people having picnics in them on such days - though that did seem odd, even to me.

When they are slightly overgrown in parts too, as in Aston churchyard, that adds to their charm.
Well, I think so.

This post was featured on the Cemetery Sunday website

Crumbling mausoleum

The old mausoleum housing the remains of the Parker-Jervis family is so completely overgrown and hidden that it's virtually impossible to get a photo of it.
It's sunk into a pit at the back of St Saviour's Church in Aston-by-Stone village, and even climbing down into the pit, to try to gain access to its door, is pretty difficult now (as you can see!).

Even though it's a listed building, now a 150 years old, it is showing signs of collapse too.

The whole churchyard at St Saviour's is littered with the graves of members of the Parker-Jervis line, which owned the adjacent Aston Hall too.

Link: Parker-Jervis Family Vault

This post has been featured on Taphophile Tragics (the cemetery-enthusiasts' website) 

The angel of Aston

There’s something very spooky about angel-memorials in graveyards. They should be reassuring, but they have exactly the opposite effect on me, even one with a beautiful face, like this one in Aston churchyard.  Her wings are really like pinions too; it's quite a piece.

The fact that her arms have broken off may contribute to her spookiness.

And I can fully understand why the makers of Doctor Who should have based one of their alien-creatures, the ‘Weeping Angels’, on these statues.

Link: The Weeping Angels