The churchyard of Northop Church is a great place to explore.
Besides having several ancestors of mine interred there, it has other hidden secrets. There's the Old Grammar School and Owen Jones' grave, which I'll blog about at a future date, but take a walk down past the old school building and around the corner towards the 'newer' part of the cemetery, where you'll find several hidden secrets.
You will recall in the last blog, I mentioned the extensive renovations carried out to the church in the 1840s. Well, they didn't discard every part of the old building or old gravestones. Many old gravestones became curb stones; you'll see their partial inscriptions almost hidden as they rise out of the ground along the walkway, but there's one definite large artefact you might miss if you're just looking ahead on your way through the church precincts and that's the old 12th century window which was taken out of the church almost two hundred years ago and now forms part of the boundary wall of the church.
Take a look too for the gravestone near to the front gate which has writing on both sides as if it's been reused at some later date. Fascinating!
#Northop #steurgaiandstpeters #Llaneurgain #Flintshire #Christianity
The Blenheim Boys
‘The devotion and gallantry… are beyond all praise. The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava is eclipsed in brightness by these almost daily deeds of fame.’
Winston Churchill on the Blenheim Crews - Prime Minister’s Personal Minute, M.852/1, 30 August 1941
