An ancient tree and church, plus a historic tomb. St Peter's and the George Gilbert Scott connection

Hello, and a very warm welcome to St. Peter's Church in the village of Tandridge in south-east England. This is a very historic site, worthy of some exploration, so let's wander in through the lich gate and have a look around. Now, the other thing that I want to talk about whilst we're here is the famous 19th century architect, George Gilbert Scott. So before we go any further, let's just have a quick look at him. Sir George Gilbert Scott was one of the most famous architects of all time. He's principally remembered as an English Gothic revivalist, and most of his work was in the building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, including St. Peter's Church at Tandridge. Among his most famous works, however, was this one, the Albert Memorial in London, which was built to commemorate the husband of Queen Victoria. And so this is the result of George Gilbert Scott's work at St. Peter's, Tandridge, as we see it today. As you can see, it still remains very much a Norman-influenced church, but with those 19th century additions, alterations and restorations. But it's a very beautiful church, I'm sure you'll agree. We'll be returning to George Gilbert Scott a bit later on, because there's another very significant connection between him and this church. But first, let's have a wander round the churchyard. This church has some beautiful architecture, no doubt about that. The churchyard is still very much a working churchyard, so there's a mixture of old and new graves here. Amongst the oldest that are still standing, would appear to be these ones just outside the entrance to the church. A lot of them are not very readable, but from the dates that I have been able to find, these would appear to be 18th and 19th century. And just between these two graves here, looking at that small one beyond, that's remarkably readable. In memory of Nan, wife of Edward Walls. Died February 8th, 1822. Aged 63 years. Here we would appear to have what's probably a family cluster of graves. But this is quite unusual. I see Emily Hunt there, 1933. Then over here, Rose Mary Hunt, 1938. Henry Hunt, 1948. But what's particularly striking is first of all, that there are more names on the back of the stone, which is very unusual. Abram Hunt, 1957. And Rose Maud Hunt, 1979. And then just here, this Celtic cross, which is for an Edwin Stanley Hunt. And he was a young 19-year-old rifleman, of the Post Office Rifles, who was killed in 1916, during the Great War. Here's a classic style Celtic cross. And it appears to be marking the grave of a clergyman, but not someone who was actually associated with this church. In fact, it records that he was involved with churches a long way from here. It says, in loving memory of Headley Wilson, priest, rector of Broughton Sulney in Nottinghamshire, and formerly vicar of Cherry Hinton in Cambridgeshire. At rest, February 4th, 1907. Aged 57. And a famous quote on the side here. For now we see through a glass, darkly. But then, face to face. We're around at the back of the church now, where again we have some very old graves. This one here is unreadable, but judging by the ornate ironwork, I think we're looking at something Victorian. If I just bring the camera round, you can see here there's more old graves that are clearly Victorian or older. And there are some very elaborate tombs at the back here. Again, sadly unreadable and actually quite overgrown, but Victorian or older, no doubt. A whole cluster of graves here that are around 200 years old. This one, which has still got very readable wording, states that this is the grave of Margaret, the daughter of James and Mary Grumbridge, of the parish of St James, London. She died in 1826. There are some more very striking graves, and some more of that beautiful church architecture, as we make our way further round the outside. And the bell of the church tower. The church itself actually sits on a small rise, just up from the roadway that goes through Tandridge Village. So, to go down into the lower part of the churchyard, just over there, we'll be going down these steps, and as you can see from the stones on the top here, that these are all memorials to members of the Matthews family. Let's go down and have a look at this section. To begin with in this section, there's a Commonwealth war grave here, one of a small number in this churchyard. This one has clearly been added to a family plot, and we can see here that this one is for Pilot Officer H.C. Adams, a pilot of the Royal Air Force who died on the 6th of September 1940, at the age of 22. So, a pilot dying in September 1940, it's a pretty safe bet that we're looking at someone here who was killed in the Battle of Britain. With one or two exceptions, most of the graves in this section appear to date from the latter part of the 20th century, up to the present day, and there you get a good impression of how the church sits on slightly higher ground to where we're standing now. Coming further round the church, we're very much back into an older section of the churchyard again now. This grave here, for example, is dated 1826, and talking of old, right next to the church, like many old churchyards, St. Peter's is no exception in having an ancient yew tree, and this one is somewhere in the region of 2,000 years old. Isn't that absolutely fantastic? And my goodness, what history that has witnessed. Now, I mentioned earlier on in this video that there was another particularly significant connection to George Gilbert Scott, so let's go and have a look at that now. And this is it. This, as it says on the side here, is the grave of Caroline, the beloved wife of Sir George Gilbert Scott. And George Gilbert Scott actually designed this himself for his wife. We'll take a look around the outside, and it says that she died here in this parish. It's in Roman numerals. That's February the 24th, 1872, aged 60 years. It's a very ornate piece of work, isn't it? And it sits at the front of the churchyard, and there's the yew tree and the church itself just beyond. Just before we leave the church, I felt I had to show you the view that you can see from outside. That is a classic image of the North Downs where we are today. Isn't that absolutely beautiful? Well, that concludes our look at St Peter's Church, Tandridge, and its connections with the 19th century architect, George Gilbert Scott. Thank you very much indeed for being with me today. I hope you've enjoyed it. If you haven't already subscribed to the channel, please do so, and remember to press the notification bell as well. Thank you again, and bye for now.