We've done a lot of walking in Somerset, particularly during the pandemic. This morning we were looking at map to find a new route from Jamie's Mum's when she suggested going to the Old Holcombe church, about 3 miles from her house. Donning beanies and scarfs and rainjackets, and grabbing the walking sticks Jamie made last time we were here, we set off with our wellis and a RATHER LARGE KEY that his Mum had picked up from her friend who was it's caretaker. I mean, when one has a key THAT big, one ought to open the door that it slides into, don't you think?

About half way there, we asked a local for diretions. Walking in England, the directions will often be something like: 'go up lane, past the old mill, turn left past the silage, over the stile by the yew tree, then over the stream and up over the hill past the old cottage' so that I'm utterly confuddled. No worries - Jamie seems to be able to auto-translate and off we trotted.

At last the church came into view. 'Holcombe' means hollow combe, or nestled in a valley, and this church certainly was. Known as the plague church, the entire village was moved during those times as so many people died, so the 'new' Holcombe isn't in the location of the church that the 'old' Holcombe grew around.

Fun fact - this is the church that Ross and Delmelza got married in in Poldark. We loved that series! I had known this for ages but had never got the chance to find the church, so were pleased that we could visit today. In the series, it's called 'Sawle Church' and of course it pretends to be two countys down in Cornwall.

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The cemetry itself was quite impressive. There's always a story or two to tell as one reads the headstones. One rather poignant one was of five children from two separate families who drowned in a pond when they fell through the ice, coming home from school on the last day of term for the Christmas break. Locals got together and donated a stone carving of five little lambs. It must have quite rattled the community at the time.

There were an awful lot of lovely girl's names - Primrose, Violet, Iris - so many flowers that poetically matched the early Spring with the bulbs springing up all around. But the real amazing thing for me was this grave - Scott of the Antarctic! I'm sure Hive account@mrprofessor might appreciate this one. He's buried in there with his parents and his brother. He lived in the old brewery near here which, strangely enough, Jamie almost bought many, many years ago!

There's also a mound where the plague victims were buried. I didn't take a photo of that because, well, it's 'just' a mound.

After walking around the graveyard, we entered the church. It's a 16th century Norman church. I don't know enough about church architecture to point out the finer details, but I'm sure if you're an expert you'll be able to tell me! I know some of the simpler carvings are due to the fact so many stonemasons died in the plague it wasn't possible to get the more ornate carvings of earlier churches.

The old key slide like a knife into butter into the old door and we were in. I was actually hoping some one would be there as I'd be able to learn more about the church, but no such luck. It's only used three times a year and for the occasional wedding.

There's something really beautiful about churches and churchyards. I don't ever feel the presence of God, something I don't believe in in this form, but the presence of people is palpable. One sees the worn stones and pews and imagines the lives that have centred around gatherings at this church, the grief and losses, the coming together for marriages and other occasions, and feels history thick in the air.

We found the pew configuration on one side quite interesting - like little boothes.

'Please do not ring the bells as the bats are roosting in the belfry' cannot be a sentence that is uttered aloud too often. Bats are protected in England as they are essential to the ecosystem, and often make a home in barns and churches. In fact, my brother in law has not been able to build his home because of bats - he has to make a whole shed for them to roost in and then he can get on with it.

Whilst a bit dark to see, the ten commandments are placed on either side of the window behind the altar. I wonder how many bazillions of times these have been broken.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” - GOD