November

A drizzly Sunday morning in Earlham Cemetery, Norwich, trying to get a few snaps before the rain got too heavy.

Staring at the Sun

Lens flare in Earlham Cemetery, Norwich.

Grave Peelings: Hidden in Rosary Cemetery

The historic nineteenth century Rosary Cemetery, Norwich - notable for being the UK's first non-denominational cemetery, and the burial ground for many prominent nineteenth and early twentieth century Norwich figures. As with Earlham Cemetery, the older sections of the grounds have been allowed to grow old gracefully, headstones growing beautifully crooked and weather-worn.

This is simply one of many that caught my eye - tucked away in the shadow of an overhanging tree, most of its facade having peeled away over the years. Far from seeming ignored or disrespected, I find a real quiet dignity in this crumbling stone.

Mark of Respect

The Dying Angels: Broken Figures in Earlham Cemetery

Walking around Norwich's Victorian Earlham Cemetery. This Eastern, older section, much wilder, is effectively left to its own devices by the council: groundskeeping work is kept at a minimum to encourage wildlife in the area. As I wandered, I kept noticing the decaying graveside figures - mostly angels, occasionally children, with heads, wings, limbs broken off at some point over the years. These graves were all of children who died sometime between 1918 and the late 1930s. The decyaing of gravestones - edges of statues breaking off, as here, or the more usual weathering into an indecipherable smudge - seems almost a second, gentler death, a softer reminder of the inevitability of the erosion of all things - life, flesh, stone.

Cemetery Cat pt 2: Tomb Kitty

A companion to last November's 'Cemetery Cat.' On a tomb in the graveyard of St Augusine's Church, Norwich.