Sutton Veny, Wiltshire

It seems interesting (to me at least) that this ruined church is pretty much in the same line as a number of prehistoric barrows parallel to the lovely River Wylye. Why did the prehistoric barrow builders think this a good spot, I wonder. Did the builders of the church follow in their footsteps deliberately? It wasn't such a great spot for a building though, as it was too damp for the foundations - apparently why the church was eventually abandoned and rebuilt elsewhere. Although that was in the 19th century and you'd think it'd have fallen down long before if things were so bad. I fear the all-too-familiar smell of the over enthusiastic victorian meddler.

There's an ancient yew tree as well, but I didn't notice it at the time, despite its 15 foot circumference. The graph on this page suggests that would make it a paltry :) 650 years old, not old enough for the connoisseur of Romanesque sculpture of course.

The church was obviously quite big. The only Norman bit of the building is the arch in the picture above. It looks quite strange because the arch and lintel are intact, but the tympanum has fallen out. The capitals remain hanging there without their pillars, rather like at Coulston. The carving on the capitals is very eroded.

This wasn't the most atmospheric of spots, mostly because the churchyard had been mowed to within an inch of its life. So it felt more sterile than spooky, not really what you'd expect from a ruin. It did have some curious gravestones made of metal though, which have got to be quite unusual you'd think. The substrate was not deterring the lichens, who had still made their home on it, so it wasn't immediately obvious what the marker was made of. I rapped with my knuckles cautiously, feeling like I was knocking on a door. To be fair I think we were both quite tired by then and the sun had been beating down on my head for a while.