History and greenery

A good day today, fairly warm with slightly weak sunshine. We changed our minds about another day in London and instead opted for a leisurely drive around the Surrey countryside.

To the uninitiated, Surrey might be the heartland of the well-to-do and OK, there are many beautiful and historic villages with wonderful houses, many old and many new. But what is also significant is that Surrey is the most wooded county in England (and probably therefore the UK). So living with trees is good.

This church is St John the Evangelist at Wotton, a village on the North Downs in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We were fortunate in meeting a member of the Parish Council who took us on a tour and told us about the history of this beautiful building. The church is largely Norman on a Saxon site and with Victorian additions - the children's' playschool is in the morgue!

In the churchyard is a huge wellingtonia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) from California - introduced as seed only in 1853. It stands on the graves of two members of the Harrison family, who died around 1860 - see extra.  Interesting - must look into this!