In Search of Gravestones Old and Curious

wed upon the symbolic figurement of the gravestone, and the more elaborate allegorical representations of

e lay well within the twenty-five years preceding Anno Domini 1800. For the sake of comparison one with another, I have taken, in addition to the sketch at page 1 (Fig. 1), three examples of the device which seems most frequently to typify the resur

-AT HORT

ge. died April

yea

evidently those of the chapter from Corinthians which is part of the Burial Service: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave

3.-AT

son, died Mar

about double the ordinary width, but did not vary the idea to any great extent. Indeed, Horton Kirby and Darenth, being next-door neighbours, have most features in common; the falling tower, which symbolizes the Day of Judgment, appearing in both, while it is absent from the mor

4.-AT

n, died June 1

yea

on a similar scale is seldom seen on the gravestones anywhere. Specimens from Lee, C

y in more acceptable shape in the next instance, no

.-AT KI

n, died 1793,

it will be allowed that the design is as graceful as it is uncommon. That it also in all

reference to the rising at the Last Day. We have this figure employed in a comparativ

6.-AT

ck, died 1809

da

but held in the hand, as in this instance,

ntended to convey any such pious or poetic thought as do the two foregoing, but simply to

.-AT SW

all, died 1779,

8.-AT

nnedy, died Se

yea

e no signification. The snake-ring is, of course, eternity, and the

. They are not only as a rule conceived in better taste, but are, almost consequently, better in their execution. The following example fro

9.-AT

Prebble of Cli

75

tambourine speak of music, and the figures of Fame and Hope are hardly to be misunderst

0.-AT

gust Leakfiel

810, aged

but seems to have suffered from th

-AT EAST

re of Woolwic

h August

ny variations. The angel with the cross in

.-AT SN

ood, died Se

yea

.-AT EA

Wright, died

39 ye

ds done in an extended life. The scythes and the reversed torches may be taken at their usual signif

.-AT WI

man, died 1793,

tead Old Churchyard, the flame which burns above indicating, it woul

.-AT WA

Cleverly, di

yea

nt. It is so in the Southfleet sketch, in which appear the two horns of the archangel

.-AT SO

r, died 1781,

ay be read as the flight of time, the cloud is probably the

.-AT WI

ns, died Nov.

yea

aid at the foot of a tree, or some metaphorical figure to the same intent. An instance occur

.-AT LE

mbert, died N

59 ye

to be surpassed. One almost in the same category is the follow

BUNHILL FI

Sharp, who die

31 ye

. Strictly speaking, death's heads and crossbones are allegorical, but these must be excepted for their very abundance and their lack of novelty. Possibly, also, the lichen, damp, and London climate, which have obliterated many of the inscriptions in this old cemetery, may have been fatal to the low relief which is requisite for fig

ard combines the emblems of his earthly calling with those of his celestial aspirations in a medley arrangement not unusual in rural scenes, but hardly to be reconciled with t

.-AT WO

mas Sanders, l

Artillery, w

ed 60 (?

n on a headstone in the obsolete graveyard of St. Oswald, near the Barracks at York. It is de

nce of curious varieties of the gravestone among the well-sown acres of Bunhill Fields and such-like places of th

rs of life was being cultivated in town; it was not even encouraged in the country. Education and refinement were not thought to be desirable accomplishments in a rustic population, but d

cities began quite a hundred years earlier than those of the villages that control and supervision over the carving and inscriptions on the tombstone which is now the almost universal rule. It was unquestionably the adoption of this practice by the country pa

the Maidstone Road. Trumpets of the speaking or musical order are frequently introduced to typify the

.-AT LO

ge, died 1772,

within the scope of this work. There is one in West Wickham Churchyard devoted to a chorister, and sculptured with a representation of the church o

52.-A

ed June 9th, 1813

following, which is one of the few I have from the London area. The graves of the sam

ST. JAMES'S,

omas Henry Eva

specially the case at Richmond and Twickenham, but of the great number of eighteenth-century stones in both churchyards there are few very remarkable. Richmond has a rare

.-AT RI

edley (?), d

yea

stones with full-relief heads of seraphs and c

5.-AT

e of Henry Bo

r, died March

these interesting objects, and was surprised to fin