Dead centre of Banbury

It is 153 years old, has a gothic lodge, has the remains of an abandoned chapel and covers 21 acres. The place were gothic and tat interact is here in Banbury. I prefer graveyards but for a change I thought I would spend my evening in Southam Road Cemetery in Banbury. The place where old and new meet.  Some areas were packed with stones and others weren’t.  The contrast from the view in front to the view behind was striking. One looking cluttered:

and the other vaguely country church-yard like:

The mortuary chapel was listed in the 1980s:

 

I liked the way this angel glanced over at us:

 

cherubs… love ‘em or hate ‘em

And a familiar grave:

I have always noticed that gravestones rarely give any information about the way someone died, or the way someone lived. I found two here – the way two people lived that was rather comprehensive:

and the way one person died which left the air hanging with something I couldn’t quite grasp:

A butterfly:

and a hanging flying thing I didn’t recognise:

I still prefer old churchyards.