Kimpton

Roo's dad, Reed, has traced his ancestors back to a tiny village not far from us called Kimpton. Last Sunday we decided to venture out there and see if we could find any gravestones or church records on the Phillips. We drove farther and farther out of civilization until we pulled into a speck of a village (a few cottages and a church) that was Kimpton. It was sunny and warm and quiet, just the sound of rustling leaves and singing birds. We walked into the silent graveyard and explored the centuries-old church. To stand in a place where literally centuries-worth of people have worshiped and married and walked is utterly fascinating to me. I love that you don't have to go searching for history in this country, it is apparent in every village and every town, the past feels like a member of the present here.

The gravestones in the church yard were worn down and difficult to read, so we decided to ask a local for some help. Reed called over the fence to a man in his garden, explained who we were and what we were looking for. The man suggested we ought to contact a man named John for a record of the gravestones.

 "Ok," said Reed, "Can you give me his contact information."

 "Yeah," said the man (named Rupert, we later found out), "He lives right over there. I'll walk over with you."

So we followed Rupert, clad in a knitted sweater and pink pants tucked into tall Wellington boots, over to John's house. We knocked on the door of the most quaint cottage anyone has ever seen and out came John who looked like a white-haired Waldo in glasses, corduroy, and a sweater. We talked for awhile and he directed us to the best place to find records for the town. But as we were standing there in this picturesque country garden, I thought, here we are talking to two of THE MOST English people in the whole world--in THE MOST English place in the whole world. I loved it! After a jolly chat, we bid them farewell and they bid us good luck in our search.

On our way out of town, Rupert showed us the local library--a red phone booth. A few years back the government was going to remove it due to lack of use; however, the locals wanted to keep it around so they bought it from the government for five pounds and used it for the next most logical thing: a library.

Though we didn't find the gravestones we were looking for, we very much enjoyed our time in Kimpton. I couldn't have dreamed up a more quaint place if I tried! It was lovely, interesting, and above all, very English, which for this American girl, is a joy.