Creepy graveyards...

Mum and I went off down to Kent yesterday to see Nan and to visit a couple of churches. We had a brilliant journey down with not one single hold-up - if only all the journeys south could be like this! I showed Nan some of the family tree research I'd already done and I mentioned the problem of names being changed as her father's name was wrong on her marriage certificate! So often children were born with one name, but used another throughout their life which can make it difficult to find the right person.

After lunch we drove to Swanscombe using mum and dad's SatNav, Gladys. Nan had never seen it in action before and was amazed when she started issuing me with directions to get to the church! Without it we would have had trouble finding our way as St Peter and St Paul was hidden away in a large housing estate. There were a few graves dotted around the church itself but most of them had been weathered so much it was impossible to read the inscriptions. My ancestors died in 1848 and 1849 so hopes of finding their graves looked less likely. Across the road was another, much larger, cemetery so mum and I went off to have a look but the graves were much more recent and after half an hour of wandering around a very creepy graveyard we had to give up.

From Swanscombe we drove to Crayford to see the Roman Catholic church, St Mary of the Crays, where my great great grandparents were married in 1872. I was hoping to see if there was someone in the church to let me know if they kept records there, but as is the way with all churches in this day and age, the place was closed up and not a soul about.

So, slightly disappointed, we made our way back to Nan's flat for a cup of tea and then the long journey home, which like the morning's trip, was fast and trouble-free!

St Peter & St Paul Church, Swanscombe

Stone tablet in the churchyard.