Monday 3 January 2022

Grave Twitcher.


I find old, and decorative, graves fascinating. They are a sign of mortality, and a permanent reminder that 'life is not a dress rehearsal'. I am lucky at the moment to spend quite some time in two particularly pleasant graveyards, whilst walking with my dog Billy.

I don't know if it is usual throughout the UK, but here in Sussex it's not uncommon to find 'Coffin shaped' gravestones at ground level.



Like this one above they are often quite simple with very basic decorative carving. I adore this particular one, and would rather like something similar myself (when the time comes). The lettering around the sides is in Lead, but sadly much is now missing.


This very sad example (above) is by the entrance to our nearby church, and is presumably the grave of a child. The stone is about 3ft 6 ins long, and lies flush with the surrounding brick path. It has no inscription. A very poignant little grave. I think I'll put some flowers on it one day, just to show that he or she hasn't been forgotten.

This one below is very near the small one; maybe they are related.


They are everywhere. Here (below) in another one. Again, no inscription.


34 comments:

  1. I have never seen coffin shaped grave stones before. Is that first one carved from stone making it very old? or is it concrete and therefore newer?

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    1. They're all stone. Simple, attractive, and pertinent.

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    2. Therefore newer? The romans were building using concrete long before Jesus was born.

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    3. I don't know. I suspect they're all 18th or 19th C. Are you suggesting that Jesus might have driven a Ready-Mix Concrete lorry?

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    4. He travelled a lot; he even came to Blighty with his uncle, on business!

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  2. We have a graveyard in our road and often walk through it. The path is lined with bottle shaped topiary yew trees which is rather Alice in Wonderlandish I took a couple of photographs a few weeks ago …. I might do a post on it ….. you have inspired me Cro. XXXX

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    1. I always love to see Topiary Yew trees in graveyards; they look better there than anywhere else.

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    2. Please hurry and do a post Jackie so that sparkler firework thingy doesn't show on Cro's sidebar anymore. It is driving me bats. I have just had to place my finger over it to read the comments..xxxxx

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    3. 😂🤣😂….. so sorry Rachel !!!! I shall rectify it asap. 🤣😂🤣 XXXX

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    4. The sparkler annoys me too, I place a notebook over the entire right hand side so the sparkling doesn't trigger a migraine.

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    5. OMG ……. I didn’t think I would cause so many problems. I feel terrible ! XXXX

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  3. We find cemeteries fascinating places to stroll in. They can be very sad as you read of young people and children dying but they can also be uplifting.

    I have been edjicated. Brighton is in Sussex. I didn't know.

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    1. None is as good as Highgate in London, but most graveyards have plenty of historic stones to peruse. Write 100 times 'Brighton is in Sussex'.

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  4. The small foot stone might at one time have had an inscription?
    Old gravestones hold much history, some older ones have tongue in cheek inscriptions too, that wouldn't be allowed now!

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    1. Yes, even a slight hint of amusement is frowned upon these days.

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  5. Fortunately, lurking round graveyards in an overcoat is not yet a crime as far as I know. By the way, when I am lurking, I don't see many of those coffin shaped gravestones in this region.

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    1. That's what I was wondering; maybe they're a local thing. I hope so!

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  6. Fascinating.
    There are 3 white stone box shaped gravestones on Author's ridge back terrace slope next to family plot that I thought were coffins. Parents had to remind me there isn't anyone in them because it bothered me so much dead people left unburied.

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  7. I've never seen grave stones like this. They seem all rather narrow and short in length and height. Could this mean they are for children?

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    1. The second one is certainly for a child; unless it was for a dwarf. I think people were generally shorter than we are these days; a question of nutrition.

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  8. Yes they are sad - but then so many thildren died in infancy - but it always seems sad.

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    1. And their Mums too; some things have certainly improved.

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  9. I adore old cemeteries. The first seven years of my life were spent living in my grandmother's house. She lived across from a beautiful country cemetery. The two of us often went for meandering walks among the gravestones. My grandfather's plot was always our first stop. Then we'd move on and she'd appease my curiosity by giving me tidbits of information about some of the others resting there. I recall at least one raised coffin-like stone. I used to believe remains lay inside which intrigued me to no end at the time. I suspect that is not actually the case.

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    1. I presume this was in Canada. It's good to know that the coffin shape is out there elsewhere.

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  10. I love old cemeteries as well. I've never see graves like those in your pictures. Probably the most interesting cemetery I visited was in New Orleans. The old cemeteries are built in the wetlands where houses could not be built. One unhappy result of that was that whenever there was a hurricane or tropical storm, caskets had a disconcerting tendency to pop out of the ground during flooding. They came up with a solution: Concrete vaults were built. When a family member died, their bodies would be slid into the vault and the vault sealed. The blistering heat of summer actually baked/cremated the bodies there in the vault. When the next family member died, a lever was turned and the current resident of the upper vault was dropped down into the hole beneath, where their bones blended with the bones of their predecessors. I thought it was quite efficient. I don't know what they did during pandemics. Yellow fever put in a regular occurrence back in the day.

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    1. Graveyards often have interesting stories. I do remember reading about burials in the Russian Steppe, where the ground is frozen solid for 9 months of the year. The bodies are wrapped and left outside to freeze, then only buried when the ground can be dug. Another strange sight.

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  11. Your choice is a beauty! We've a couple of sea-facing cliff-top cemeteries in Sydney where you'll find the most fetching stonework. No shade to speak of but the residents have dramatic views.

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    1. When our church was built, the churchyard would have had mostly uninterrupted views of the sea. These days Brighton is a reasonably large city, and the dead sadly no longer have 'a view'.

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  12. I like old cemeteries and visit them when able. Our friend Starlett took me to visit a cemetery near her, in a very poor section of Tennessee. She saved for last a section where headstones were cement blocks."Babies" she explained, "and too poor for a headstone."

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    1. I suspect that many didn't even have the luxury of a concrete block.

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  13. I love old cemeteries, too and always try to see at least one wherever I go. One favourite are the "talking stones" on the North Sea island Amrum, where you find the whole lives of the "owners", the names of their ships, when they married, how many children they had etc.
    Hilde in Germany

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