East Farleigh Church, other wise known as “The Ancient Parish Church of East Farleigh” is found at the top of farleigh hill opposite the Bull pub. It is about 3 miles outside of Maidstone in Kent. The churchyard sports lovely views of old farleigh bridge and the medway river winding through the valley below. The church has a steeple and appears to have been modernised in places, though is likely to have originally been built in the middle ages by the normans. A churchyard surrounds the church on all sides and is of a fairly large size. More info can be found at the east farleigh website .
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Faversham is situated in the north of Kent, near Canterbury, and Faversham Church is unsurprisingly situated in the aforementioned town. Its a really lovely church, I didn’t get a chance to look inside because it was closed but from the outside it is very striking and sports a beautiful spire as shown in the photos. It doesn’t appear to be very old – maybe 1700’s – but the brickwork uses an unconventional material – maybe flint stone, i’m not sure – but it looks damn fine. Its probably stone from a local quarry but I could not find any confirmation of this. You may notice a mysterious bespectacled man in some of the pictures. This is my friend Austin and you may ignore him if you wish. 🙂 Begone Austin!
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Leeds Churchyard is located in Leeds village in Kent. The village is situated about 5 miles outside of Maidstone and is probably most famous for being the home to the historical site and tourist attraction that is Leeds Castle. This nice little churchyard is located by sheer blind luck I think, outside of Leeds Church, which is just down the road from Leeds Castle. I went there in August of 2012 and took a few pictures…
Loose Churchyard is located around the church in the centre of Loose Village near Maidstone in Kent. The site itself is very old and has been used as a religious centre since at least the early middle ages around the time of Norman the Conqueror. A reference to the old yew tree in the graveyard can be found in the Domesday Book, written in 1086, which likely makes the tree at least 1000 years old. That’s pretty old even for a tree. And its still alive too of course – standing boldly and defiantly in the graveyard, its ancient limbs supported and crutches, its trunk protected by iron railings, surrounded by reminders of mortality maybe a tenth of its age. The churchyard has many old and interesting graves. As is often the case – due to age, erosion and poor quality stone – many of the oldest graves are unreadable. There is one grave that stands out as really mysterious and unique. Built very close to the church and as a post or pedestal about five feet high, there is a four-sided, round, stone head at its top with a face carved carefully into each side. The side facing the church is blank and cannot be easily viewed due to the grave’s proximity to the church. The three other faces show the face of a young man to the left, a middle aged man in the middle and finally a skull to the right. These faces appear to represent the individual’s life from early years through to middle age and finally death. Unfortunately the grave is not in the best conditions so its true meaning is now lost in the mists of time and space…
East Farleigh Churchyard is found in the grounds of at the top of Station Road opposite The Bull Pub. East Farleigh and its environs are essentially located in a valley created by the River Medway. The rear of the churchyard offers a beautiful view overlooking the rest of the village and the river winding its way into view from Teston in the distance. You can find out more about the church at the East Farleigh Church photo gallery. More info can be found about the surrounding area at the east farleigh website .
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Faversham Parish Churchyard is located around St Mary of Charity Church in the middle of the small town. Its very well kept with a large variety of different and interesting graves populating the green areas around the church.
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