All Saints With St Margarets Church - Upper Norwood

 

LOCATION:

The churchyard is on Beulah Hill in Upper Norwood. It is relatively easy to get to by bus and the nearest train stations are either Crystal Palace or Norwood Junction. If you use the trains however, there is a bit of a walk so buses will be easier.

FIRST OPENED:

It was built between 1827-29 and was opened not long after.


FAMOUS RESIDENTS:

I could not find any notable burials. I'm guessing that this small piece of land was used for noble families of the area or past vicars and their families.
ALSO KNOWN AS:

N/A

SIZE & LAYOUT:

The site is built on the corner of 2 roads at a junction.

THE WALKABOUT:

This lovely little churchyard was one that I had actually spotted whilst I was on the bus going to another location. I just had to come back and see it when I was done. Unfortunately for me, there was a wedding going on that day so I had to be very careful on how I approached it. The place actually served as a Chapel of Ease to the Croydon Parish Church. It was all restored in 194 however after being severely damaged by bombings in WW11. Like I said, there was a wedding that day so I had to sneak around slightly. Tyring to get a picture of the top of the church was a task in itself!

Luckily for me, the grave sites are mainly allocated to the sides and back of the church. For a small patch of land, the amount of greenery is very impressive. It looks very natural yet very well looked after at the same time, even the very old graves that have been there for nearly 100 years all look fairly new. The site is surrounded by a low rising wall and at the back it has a fairly large black, rot iron gate. There is a little winding path that you can follow around. A lot of the graves appear to be like little monuments, I think these may have been former parishers. From looking at it, it's hard to believe that there was a great scandal with the place in the 1870s. The vicar at the time had carried out doing burials, despite it being full, and was pocketing the money. There was an estimated 300 burials, causing some of the bodies to literally rise from the graves.

There is some small woodland around the yard and it is stunning. I bet this place would have looked wonderful in the snow. The church itself is to be admired. It's a lot bigger than you think it would be with a dark stone exterior. it really is just beautiful. My day here was unfortunately a short one but luckily it is small so I managed to get in all of the sights before I had to sneak back out!

ANY GHOSTS?:

There where no ghosts spotted this time I'm sad to say but I can tell that the place has a lot of potential and it feels very active somehow. I don't know whether it was all of the commotion from the wedding or the fact that it is quite close to a main road, but it certainly feels like something is trying to hide. I would very much like to come back here at a quieter time perhaps or, if I'm feeling a bit brave then maybe during the night!


FINAL (RESTING) WORD:

Although some remain skeptic when it comes to little churchyards, this one will definately change your mind. When you are there it really feels like you are in another world, there is no describing it without actually being there. Don't let all of the hustle and bustle cloud your judgement. Take a day out there to really enjoy it, I guarantee that you will not be disapointed.

"Respect those who are not physically here, you can’t see them but they can see you, and disrespect is something they don’t want to see"

RATING: 4/5 - Pretty enough for a picnic!


LINK: http://www.allsaintsuppernorwood.co.uk/