Holly Walk...at Church Road, Hampstead

The Holly Walk Print, available at society6.com/chandaelaine

A wanderer by nature, I am lured by small streets and alleys well away from the beaten path. Down Church Street (Hampstead), past the celebrity homes where knots of tourists groups clog the pavement, sits the serene Hampstead Parish Church of England.

The cemetery in the churchyard is a gothic wonderland, the gravestones covered with carvings of roses, skulls, and bones, but the real gem is the cemetery addition over the road at the corner of Holly Walk. This small yard is bursting with beautiful statues and intricate relief carvings. 

The memorial from which this print is derived stands half-way up the hill at Holly Place on the right side of the street. In summer the greenery grows thick around the surrounding stones and on a summer day, you can stroll past without noticing it, the statue lost in the play of light and shadow amongst the trees.

In the winter you can walk around the base and take your time with each of the perfectly realized details. Though now in the US, I continue to be drawn back to this narrow lane and the threads of a story which linger there.

Wing relief detail.

The Holly Walk Print, available at society6.com/chandaelaine