Welshpool Series Part 4: St Mary’s churchyard

St Mary’s Church, Welshpool

The Parish Church of St Mary of the Salutation is a prominent landmark in the town, especially with its elevated position. We have a great view of St Mary’s, looking over the town from Christ Church. Parts of the church originate from the 13th Century and you can read more about it’s architectural history here

The churchyard houses the town’s War Memorial.

The gothic style windows and arches of St Mary’s are quite a contrast to the romanesque or norman style arches of Christ Church.

These 17th Century tombstones are very rare and are quite fascinating. Very different to the Victorian style gravestones I’m more familiar with.

The churchyard houses some incredibly old gravestones. I love the weathering and colour of this one leaning against the chancel wall.

The older part of the churchyard has been cleared of gravestones and they line the edges of the (now easily!) maintained grassed areas.

The reverse side of this gravestone caught my eye with the lovely patterning created by the stonemason. I love the attention to detail. What a fine craftsman he was!

I rather like the gravestones all lined up next to each other, being able to compare the designs and texts. The lettering on some is so ornate and intricate.

Other areas of the churchyard are very overgrown with ivy almost completely smothering the gravestones creating ivy mounds.

Here lies Sargeant Evan Jones who defended and survived Rorkes Drift (the battle was depicted in the 1964 film Zulu).

The upper part of the churchyard looks absolutely gorgeous at this time of year with carpets of spring wildflowers, such as primroses and forget-me-nots. Its nice that the grass-cutter leaves these to flower and that they don’t get mown down.

Yellow Meadow Ant hill

St Mary’s churchyard is a lovely part of Welshpool and my littlest and I enjoy our walks through it on our way from Ardwyn to Maesydre schools.
There is also a great view of Christ Church (‘look… my house!’ says littlest one when he sees this view!) Interesting how both churches are both elevated above the town…