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Chapel Lane, SWINDON, SN3 4SW

This derelict chapel is situated just round the corner from the poet Alfred Williams' early home, Rose Cottage, and practically opposite his marital home, Ranikhet http://www.alfredwilliams.org.uk/southmarston.html , yet I was unable to find any information about it.

Rose Cottage, built in 1865, was the home of the poet Alfred Williams (1877-1930) http://alfredwilliams.org.uk/life.html between about 1883 and 1903. Williams worked as a hammerman in the Great Western Railway factory in Swindon, and wrote books and poetry in his spare time. His works include "Life in a Railway Factory" and "Round About the Upper Thames".

This plaque appears on the front elevation of Rose Cottage Image once the home of a locally revered but otherwise largely unknown writer, Alfred Williams. NOTE! This image has a detailed ‘shared description’ which you won’t see by viewing this image on a slideshow. To read it click on the image.

For 22 years this was the home of Alfred Williams, a local man who was born and who died within a few metres of here. He was a minor literary figure who, whilst locally revered, is little-known. NOTE! This image has a detailed ‘shared description’ which you won’t see by viewing this image on a slideshow. To read it click on the image.

The gravestone is covered in lichen. Lichens do not have roots, but absorb water and gases through their upper surface, and are therefore sensitive to atmospheric pollution. For this reason they are rarely found around cities and grow best on the wetter west side of the British Isles. Those on trees thrive best on the sunny, south-west aspects of trunks and branches. Disappearance of lichen species can be used to detect rising levels of air pollution. There are three main types. The encrusting forms, including the bright orange/dark yellow 'Xanthoria' grow on roofs, walls, gravestones, signs and tree trunks. Leaf-like species develop flat lobes spreading over bark or stones, and shrubby forms which grow vertically from the ground or hang from trees. Few have common names.

Many churches have a lych gate built over the main entrance to the enclosed area round the church. The name, also spelt lich or lytch, is from the Anglo Saxon 'lich' meaning corpse. The gate marks the division between consecrated and unconsecrated ground, where the bearers sheltered with the coffin, waiting for the clergyman to lead the procession before the burial.

The churchyard is well stocked with graves and head stones (some double) and table tombs, which are mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Small medieval parish church with west tower. Built of rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings. The earliest part of the church is the nave built about 1140AD.