St Laurence's cemetery Hawkhurst

Now spring is here James and I are going out exploring every weekend and I'm taking lots of photos. I've debated whether to post the scenery photos I take with their corresponding fashion photos but have decided to post them on a standalone basis. I'm happiest with a camera in hand and there's no sense taking photos for them to just sit on my hard drive, is there?! I've got such a backlog of photos (both fashion and scenery) to share, but I'm trying to space out the frequency of my posts so I can enjoy life a bit more. The trouble is if I'm not working I tend to feel a bit lost, but I'm working on relaxing more. ;)

This set is from St Laurence's church in Hawkhurst, Kent, about a half hour drive away from us. 
Now, why the appeal with churches and cemeteries? I'm mostly drawn to the outer reaches of churches, although churches themselves do bring me peace on the rare occasions I enter them. I've been exploring cemeteries since I was a child. I've never feared the dead (apart from one time I must share at some point. It's a pretty epic ghost story!) So why the obsession? Cemeteries are free to enter, they usually have lots of lovely trees, plants and flowers to look at, and they tend to be mostly devoid of the living. For a nature-loving empath introvert like me it's a dream come true. I'm also a massive history nerd, and spotting a grave from the 1700s gives me a thrill, as does seeing a skull and crossbones on a grave. I love the way the oldest graves are smothered in moss and lichen and I can barely make the words out. I'm the biggest nerd ever. I feel at peace in places that have existed for hundreds of years. It brings out a historic romance, wondering who walked these places before me.
This last photo was taken through a tiny gap in a grille. The stairs lead to some kind of crypt room, long since unused. I wonder what led to it being abandoned? Perhaps that's what I love about history the most - unanswered questions.

If you want to see more from Hawkhurst, check out my post from 2014. It's good to see I didn't take photos of the same things this year as at the first visit. ;) We first visited at the end of April 2014, and it's amazing how much more in bloom everything was in the April visit as opposed to this mid-March one. One day I might actually make it inside!

St Laurence Church

The Moor
Hawkhurst
Kent
TN18 4NT

Thanks for reading.
Leah xoxo

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