Rosslyn Chapel-a peaceful place

Who would have thought that sitting in a graveyard in the sunshine would have been one of peace. That was the feeling myself and Daisy certainly left with. As usual we had no expectations when we went to visit the chapel which was regarded as a place of mystic. My initial thoughts as I approached the front entrance was that of Oh No ! commercialism. A new build entrance had been added with housed a restaurant and visitor information point. However stepping beyond this point into the courtyard of the chapel, I immediately had the feeling of calmness and peace and within a few minutes I sensed a tall slim elderly male, grey whiskers, black top hat, wearing long coat tailed jacket, pin stripped trousers and white spats over shoes, cane with silver tip. I felt that he was just and even tempered, a widower who spent a lot of time visiting the chapel , Victorian era perhaps…Hmmm I need to research as to who this might be. Continuing my walk around the outside I sensed another male, more rotund in size and smaller in height, of a more recent era, white shirt, brown trousers with braces and flat cap.I got the impression he was a maintenance or grounds man who had worked there for some time. I got the sense of annoyance from him, a sullenness. Neither made any attempt at crossing over the psychic border to make contact. I didn’t either, switching from their influence, it was time to enter the Chapel.

Rose was sketching in the Chapel

On entering the chapel I see there are many visitors and it becomes quite clear that it is impossible for me to separate the feelings of the living from the dead. The atmosphere that is evoked is one of sorrow but also of peace. Although it maybe a place of worship, I feel more than anything that it has been a place of solace and refuge for those that seek to grieve the loss of loved ones and this has been for sometime with some of those attending on a regular basis, present and past. It is a place to heal.

Rose

I would have to agree Rosslyn chapel was so peaceful when I entered it made me even without thinking and making the concious decision to do so to become very reflective about my own loved ones dear to me that have passed. I felt I wanted to constantly photograph everywhere in grounds and surrounding areas even in the cemeteries behind the chapel in order to try and capture through the lens the overwhelming feeling of peacefulness and solace I was experiencing .

I took several of the chapel and stunning views beyond but only this one of a small lane dwindling into the distance really fascinated me. Who had walked this path before once or perhaps many times in the past to Rosslyn chapel or cemeteries.

I would certainly recommend anyone to visit but not for looking into the side of commercialism that was portrayed through the film. Just go with an open mind you may be surprised. Most certainly I feel I will revisit again in the future. I feel drawn to do so.

Daisy

A strange occurrence in the graveyard

At the rear of the Chapel is the cemeteries, which are divided into 4 parts. I was drawn to the upper one, on the gate at the entrance it said Commonwealth war graves. It was empty as we entered I saw that it was laid out on a 3 tiered slope. I was wandering along the bottom row lagging behind Daisy who was taking photographs when I was drawn to one of the headstones, and wrote the name in my notebook. I have no idea why at this stage. It wasn’t a war memorial, in fact none of them that I had passed so far appeared to be. For obvious reasons I cant mention the name on the stone. When I caught up to Daisy at the end of the row, I gestured to the top and said that I suspected that the war graves were at the top tier, I made no mention to the name I had written down at this point. We walked to the top and as we were walking back along Daisy mentioned that she felt a bit lightheaded and as if someone was watching us. I said I felt same, that there felt like their was a presence around. We decided to sit on a nearby bench which looked out across the cemetery and landscape beyond . After a few minutes a woman entered the cemetery via the side gate, we watched her as she walked purposely towards a grave stone, directly below where we were sitting. Daisy made a humorous remark about whether she was real or not and I smiled and said of course she was. We were both intrigued and slightly fixed upon the woman’s actions

The woman cleared some dead flowers and debris from the grave then turned and left. Daisy being curious went down the slope to have a look at the headstone. Before she said anything I shouted down that I knew the name on the grave and told her the name I had written in my notebook earlier. I was right. The feeling that I got from the presence was that she wanted the woman who had visited the grave, who I felt was her sister, to know that she was at peace.