A Rabbit's Tale 10/19/2013

A Rabbit's Tale

By Godric Godricson

“Swaffham: The Churchyard in autumn”

The medieval market town of Swaffham in Norfolk, England, contains the medieval church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul built in perpendicular style. Rising majestically from the market square, the Church is visible from miles around. Despite a falling Church roll some older people continue to attend services in the Established Anglican tradition. A visiting taphophile will quickly find the ancient Churchyard which has been here from the Saxon period when Harold Godwinson later to be King Harold II (1022-1066) held the Manor. The Church itself is a vast indoor cemetery worthy of a visit as it contains the vault of Catherine Steward the maternal grandmother of Oliver Cromwell who came from Swaffham and died here in 1590.

The churchyard is disproportionately large for the modern population of seven thousand people and could serve a much larger community. The entrance to the Churchyard is through a narrow lane off the Market Square filled with modern shops that turn their backs on this ancient site. Bells ring from the large tower through the day and reverberate around the Square. As we move towards Christmas people start to visit the church more often as the nights become colder and choir practices increase in regularity. Under the twinkling stars of a clear sky we can easily imagine Richard de Wichford, the first recorded vicar in 1299 scurrying through the expansive Churchyard to take a service.

Headstones and memorials give an idea of the sort of town this was in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the materials found in the locality. The great and the good are represented with imported stone monuments although the penniless from the Poor-law Workhouse were buried well away from the Church and 'respectable' people who could afford the fee charged for burial The South side of the ancient cemetery is comprised of well-worn 18th century steele monuments. The monuments on this popular side of the Church are like a rather poorly formed set of teeth. Some monuments are completely missing leaving a gap in the row and other headstones are set at wild angles or are partially sunken. All the headstones are poorly preserved and increasingly weathered with the passing of time. The classical stones smile beatifically as they rapidly fade into memory though the effect of acid rain leaving no inscriptions to remind passers-by of the names of the departed. On the other side of a high churchyard wall a development of new houses are sited close to the burials. Once more, the living look out of upper story windows onto the rough grass and mole hills of the Churchyard as the people have done for a thousand years.

The modern Parish started to use the ancient East End of the Church as a place for the burial of cremation ashes. England is different when compared to other European countries and cremation is now the main way of disposing of the dead. Industrialization of 19^th Century culture inevitably lead to mechanization in the disposal of the departed. Environmentally friendly inhumation into an earthen grave was largely abandoned in favour of atmospheric pollution. Modern stone monuments lacking in personal details memorialize anonymous ashes set into ragged grass. Stone decays slowly and such memorials will inevitably fill up the churchyard and become a sort of litter in years to come. Plastic flowers are sometimes placed on monuments set low in the grass although they're removed whenever they're spotted. The comings and goings of people visiting the ashes means that this part of the Churchyard is often inaccessible to taphophiles. It's against the normal etiquette of such things to take photographs when there are grieving relatives present. At least the Parish Council continues to use the churchyard rather than turning it into some sort of municipal playground which is the fate of other Churchyards

Closer to the ancient common-land known as the 'Campingland' the churchyard becomes a little wilder as the taphophile moves into 20th century burials. At the edge of the churchyard we find the great and the good of 20th century Swaffham. The burials become more varied in social class and status. Red granite monument are juxtaposed against traditional limestone and even concrete. Monuments are falling over and a rural disarray lends an air of genteel dereliction to his ancient site. The Parish pile up monuments like discarded rubble to prevent injury to visitors such is the extent of the 'health and safety' culture in the United Kingdom. Nearby, an Admiral rests in repose near to the local Police Chief and not too far away there are members of a local farming family. Colonels rest alongside the ordinary people of the market town. The social history of Swaffham is laid out in the ground.

Casualties from World War I rest alongside the civilians and at least four men remind us of this tragic period of World history when so many people died for little reason. Swaffham shared something of the sufferings of war although it is far from the trenches of Flanders.

The North side of the church is on display to a road that brings people in and out of the town and in this area the grass tends to be scraped within an inch of its life. The lawn is manicured because everyone can see the Churchyard from the road. Monuments tend to have been removed on the North side and the area looks a little more like a park compared to the other areas.

Swaffham can stand in for any number of English market towns. The Church and Churchyard is disproportionately large for the 21^st Century and the site tells us something about Saxon origins and the wealth of burials from the Saxon period. The medieval period is evidenced by the huge tower and peel of bells that ring out the services of the Church for the minority of the town who attend. The inhabitants of the Churchyard tell us something about status, class and war. The absence of the poor living in the workhouse tell us something about those who weren't wanted in death as they were excluded in life. We're reminded of the fees charged by the Church for burials and that the Rector of the Church made a living from the money raised. It's true to say that Swaffham's Churchyard is a lesson in history, sociology, politics, environment and ecology and it's the visiting taphophile who tends to be the sole reader of such evidence.

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