Crossing a wide field, just outside Burgh-By-Sands, we came upon some ancient trees - we walked for a while under their gnarled twisting branches - wind stirred the tangled grass -
We'd been following the line of the Wall and the Vallum - it was late morning, starting to rain - it got suddenly colder - raindrops shone on my blue cagoule -
We took shelter inside St Michael's church - the interior was dimly lit - there were small stained glass windows, one of which depicted a grim king -
I read the memorial tablets upon the walls - I thought of the lives they commemorated with their careful carving -
There was the physician, with his wife - I saw their tall gentle figures -
In remembrance of Thomas Rigg, MD FRCS, son of Thomas Rigg, and Elizabeth Stuart his wife, of Boustead Hill, Burgh-By-Sands, born August 11 1842, died December 2 1915 - He ministered faithfully to the sick of this parish and district for 45 years -
There was the golden youth, killed in France -
To the beloved memory of Robert Mayson Calvert, 2nd Lieut 17 Manchester Regiment, Hastings Exhibitioner at Queens College Oxford - youngest son of Robert Calvert of Burgh-By-Sands, born 1 March 1896, killed in action in Trones Wood, France, 9 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme -
A passageway led to the base of a pele tower - strange animals were carved into the stone - when reivers burned farms, villagers would take shelter here, enfolded by strong walls -
In the churchyard, gravestones were inscribed with delicate flowing scripts -
It was now raining heavily, an icy downpour, chilling our bodies -
13.00
14 July 2014
St Michael's Church
Burgh-By-Sands
Note
St Michael's is built on the site of Aballava, a Roman Fort, which was garrisoned by Moorish Auxiliaries
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