Gravestones, Tombs & Memorials (15 page)

FIG 5.19:
Epitaphs tend to become shorter on Victorian memorials and were often direct quotes from the Bible as in the above example (they usually state the part of the Bible from which it is taken in smaller print afterwards).

The more standardised and sentimental epitaphs used on memorials from this period often dislocate the reader from the deceased, but there is still much to be discovered about them from the facts recorded. As carved stones became more widespread for those further down the social ladder so the plight of the working classes becomes more evident, most particularly to modern eyes in the appalling infant mortality which seemed to strike many families. Large-scale natural and man-made disasters are also better recorded, in part because those most affected tended to come from a class which previously could not afford a permanent memorial. Some of the greatest losses of life due to over-ambition and cruel negligence are only recorded today in churchyards and cemeteries, to those with a keen eye.

FIG 5.20:
It seems that nearly every other Victorian gravestone records the loss of a child, all too often with their age only in weeks or months. Some have a list filling the whole stone which makes heartbreaking reading. If there is an epitaph, it tends to encourage the parents to believe that they have gone to a better place as in this example: ‘This lovely bud so young and fair, Cut of in early bloom; Just come to show how sweet a flower, In paradise could bloom'.

FIG 5.21:
The glories of Victorian engineering are often celebrated with plaques and statues in memory of the engineers; their failures are usually forgotten about and can only be found recorded on gravestones of those affected. On 12th March 1864 a huge dam nearing completion at High Bradfield in the hills above Sheffield burst due to a flaw in its design, sending 600 million gallons of water in a tidal wave up to ten feet high down the valley and into Sheffield. As it was at night there was little warning and over 250 people died in what is still the worst man-made disaster in this country. It is only in the churchyards and cemeteries along the route of the flood that this catastrophe is recorded. The excerpt above from the Armitage family gravestone states that the grandmother, her two sons, their wives and seven children all perished in what they term an ‘inundation'. Many of the inscriptions state that some of the bodies were never found.

FIG 5.22:
On 16th June 1883 a couple of thousand children were packed into the Victoria Hall in Sunderland to see a magic show when, towards the end, free gifts were offered so those on the gallery rushed to the stairs to get down to the stage. It is not known who jammed the door at the bottom of the stairs but as the children piled down and hit the obstruction they quickly massed up, crushing and suffocating those underneath, their weight preventing the desperate adults below from getting them out – 183 children died that day. One Sunday school of 30 lost every member while other parents turned up to find their whole family had been cruelly extinguished. Although the public memorial in the park opposite the now demolished hall has recently been restored, it is through the gravestones in the local cemetery that the loss of life is most sensitively recorded. The top left example records that the Mills lost four children and the right-hand stone the parents' anger as their children ‘were killed in the dreadful calamity at the Victoria Hall'.

FIG 5.23:
Occasionally, humour can be found amidst the mourning. This simple memorial at Eyam, Derbyshire, to the cricketer Henry Bagshaw simply has the hand of the Almighty pointing back to the pavilion as the stumps are knocked over below.

Further Information

Locating Graves

Finding a specific grave for a family member and, hopefully, a surviving gravestone or tomb can be tricky. In the past there was no legal requirement to record the place of burial on the death certificate, so the best source of information may be from your own family records, a receipt, copy of a will or an old Victorian memorial card. Local public records may also help, like newspaper announcements (old copies are often held on microfilm at the local library).

The most likely place where they would be buried is in the churchyard of the parish in which they last resided (or the local cemetery) or the parish which is the traditional family home. The burial registers for municipal cemeteries are held by local authorities; those for the churchyard are usually within the building itself or, once a register is filled, in the local records office. The position of the grave should be noted in cemetery records or their grave book, but churchyard records are rarely so helpful so unless a local historical society or family history group have recorded them you will simply have to start looking!

More detailed information on locating graves is available through family history websites (the Federation of Family History Societies –
www.ffhs.org.uk
– have compiled a National Burial Index which may be of help). Other information and contacts can be found in the wide range of family history magazines on the market.

Dating Gravestones

The styles of text and shape of stones and tombs listed in this book can help to narrow the date range when a stone may have first been carved, when the information upon it is illegible. Where a date is clearly carved upon a stone it should not necessarily be taken for granted that this was when the stone was first carved, especially on pre-Victorian memorials. Many were bought as family stones to be used by successive generations; the first lines (usually at the top) may have eroded while later ones lower down may survive, giving the impression that the date is later than it is. If a gravestone seems significantly earlier in form than the date upon it, then it could have been reused and the original carving might still be legible somewhere else, like on the reverse. Also, remember that although the position of a stone is a clue to the importance of the deceased, many have been subsequently resited.

Graveyards to Visit

There are thousands of graveyards around medieval churches which have been burial grounds for centuries, some over a thousand years, creating such a displacement of soil that the level of the area is raised above the surroundings (look for retaining walls around the church and steps down to neighbouring fields to show where this has happened). Most will have stones and tombs of note although they may be rather lost behind monotonous later memorials. Many churchyards have had stones cleared to aid mowing, but even here some of the finest have been retained around surrounding walls. Cemeteries can be spectacular in the finest examples, as in Kensal Green and Highgate in London, but smaller early Victorian examples in major towns and cities can also be a source of interest.

There are, however, a number of churchyards worth mentioning which have exceptional collections of memorials. Those listed here are featured in this book along with a few favourites; there will be others which also have a single stone, tomb or monument of some note. (Just put the grid reference into a site such as the Ordnance Survey's Get a Map service –
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
– or
www.multimap.com
on the internet to find the location.)

Astbury, Cheshire
(SJ 846615): Good collection of ledgers and a medieval canopied tomb.

Bakewell, Derbys
(SK 215685): Exceptional collection of Saxon and medieval graveslabs and coffins by the porch and Saxon crosses and other stones of interest.

Bromsgrove, Worcs
(SO 956707): Examples of distinctive thick sandstone gravestones (much worn) and unique train boiler explosion graves.

Burford, Oxon
(SP 253124): One of the best collections of bale tombs.

Elmore, Glos
(SO 766149): Notable chest tombs on south side of church (opposite entrance side) especially Knowles tomb. Also worth visiting are the nearby churchyards at
Haresfield
(SO 810104) and
Standish
(SO 801084).

Lavenham, Suffolk
(TL 913490): Neatly arranged collection of late 18th and early 19th century stones (many eroded and covered in lichens).

Leicester, St Mary de Castro church
(SK 583042): Exceptional collection of slate gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries with all fine details intact. St Margaret's also of note (SK 585 051).