Gravestones, Tombs & Memorials (16 page)

Long Sutton, Lincs
(TF 432228): One of the finest collections of gravestones covering all periods.

Madeley, Telford, Salop
(SJ 696041): Notable for collection of cast-iron grave markers and tombs (close to Ironbridge).

Painswick, Glos
(SO 866096): Famous churchyard with exceptional collection of pedestal and chest tombs.

Sale (Brooklands Cemetery), Manchester
(SJ 784913): Compact early Victorian cemetery where the wealthy of Manchester were buried.

Glossary

Bale tomb:
A chest tomb with a grooved semi-cylindrical section along the top. Found in the eastern Cotswolds.

Body-stone:
A stone shape lying horizontally between the head and foot-stone (covering the burial) and shaped like a coffin (flat, raised or semi-cylindrical).

Canopy:
An ornamental stone covering above a medieval tomb.

Capital:
The top decorated or grooved section of a column.

Cartouche:
A panel with a curved and scrolled edging.

Cenotaph:
Means an ‘empty tomb' and is a monument commemorating a distant burial.

Chamfer:
A diagonal cut off a square edge.

Chest tomb:
A stone box built up over the burial which resembles a Classical sarcophagus or medieval altar tomb.

Console:
An ‘S'-shaped bracket.

Coped stone:
A low memorial with a gabled top.

Discoid:
A short stone marker with a round or octagonal head.

Effigy:
A sculpture of the deceased lying down along the top of a medieval tomb.

Epitaph:
A rhyme or comment about the deceased which is usually carved below the names and dates on memorials.

Festoons:
Classical decoration of draped fabric (swags) or garlands of fruits or flowers.

Gable:
Triangular shaped upper part of a wall matching the profile of the roof.

Graveboard:
Horizontal plank or rail supported by two posts and running up the side of the grave, carved with details of deceased (also known as dead-board).

Hogsback:
A late Saxon memorial shaped like a long house, sometimes with animals and found in Northern (Danish influenced) counties.

Ledger:
A horizontal slab covering the burial with details of the deceased carved upon it (can be raised upon a short plinth).

Mausoleum:
A large family tomb which can be the size of a small freestanding building.

Necropolis:
Means the ‘city of the
dead' but is often used to refer to large Victorian cemeteries.

Obelisk:
A tall stone pillar, square in plan, which tapers to a pyramid top.

Ogee:
An ‘S'-shaped curve or arch.

Pedestal tomb:
A tall tomb with a square, round or polygonal plan, often with an urn on the top.

Pediment:
A low triangular-shaped feature supported on columns projecting from the end or centre of a classical building. Used as a decorative feature on some gravestones and tombs.

Pilaster:
A flat column, in this case carved into the surface of a gravestone or tomb.

Quatrefoils:
A foil is a round lobe used in Gothic decoration, with the prefix ‘quatre' meaning four, and ‘tre' meaning three. Arranged like a clover leaf.

Rococo:
A flamboyant mid 18th-century style characterised on memorials by deep foliage and convex panels.

Sarcophagus:
Means ‘flesh eater' and originally referred to stone coffins but now used to describe a Classical memorial in the shape of a casket or bath tub.

Stela:
A Classical form of upright stone, often with a top formed from triangles.

Table tomb:
A flat ledger raised upon columns in each corner so it appears as a hollow chest tomb.

Weepers:
Carved figures in mourning.

Bibliography

English churchyard memorials
, Frederick Burgess, 1963 (reprinted 2004)

English churchyard memorials
, Hilary Lees, 2000

Churchyards of England and Wales
, Brian Bailey, 1987

Buildings of England
series, Nikolaus Pevsner and others. County guides which include details on notable memorials inside and outside of churches.

Index

A

Altar tombs:
9
,
24

Angels:
5
,
13
,
21
,
24
,
25
,
38
,
39

Anstey, Herts:
15

Astbury, Cheshire:
60

B

Bakewell, Derbys:
8
,
9
,
60

Bale tombs:
33–34
,
60
,
61

Body-snatchers:
12

Body stones:
26
,
61

Bromsgrove, Worcs:
17
,
48
,
60

Burford, Oxon:
34
,
60

Burton Lazars, Leics:
36

C

Cemeteries:
13
,
24
,
26

Charnel house:
9

Cherubs, winged:
22
,
38

Chest tomb:
5
,
28–36
,
60
,
61

Churchyard cross:
10–11

Coffins:
9
,
13
,
60

Coffin stone:
12

Columns, broken:
5
,
24
,
25

Coped stone:
5
,
24
,
26
,
61

Cremation:
14

Crosses:
13
,
24
,
25
,
46
,
60

E

Elmore, Glos:
35
,
60

Eyam, Derbys:
58

F

Flamboyant tombs:
34–35

Footstones:
5
,
16
,
20
,
22

Freemasons:
45

G

Gothic revival:
24
,
25

Graveboards:
5
,
19
,
61

Great Yarmouth, Norfolk:
47

Greek Revival:
22–24

H

Haresfield, Glos:
60

Headstones:
5
,
16–26

Hogsbacks:
8
,
61

Hourglasses:
22
,
38
,
41

I

Iron memorials:
23
,
32
,
60

L

Lavenham, Suffolk:
60

Ledgers:
5
,
16
,
26
,
29
,
30
,
60
,
61

Leek, Staffs:
49

Leicester:
38
,
60

Long Sutton, Lincs:
16
,
60

Lych gate:
15

M

Madeley, Salop:
60

Mausoleums:
13
,
36–37
,
61

Monuments:
5
,
13
,
36–37

O

Obelisk:
5
,
24
,
25
,
62

P

Painswick, Glos:
28
,
35
,
60

Pedestal tomb:
5
,
31–36
,
60
,
62

Penrith, Cumbria:
8

R

Reformation, The:
10–11
,
13
,
17

Restoration, The:
11
,
17
,
29

Rococo:
20
,
30
,
62

Romans:
7–8
,
16
,
23

Rudston, Yorks:
7

S

Sale, Manchester:
60

Saxons:
7–8
,
16
,
60

Sheen, Staffs:
37

Sheffield, Yorks:
57

Shrewsbury, Salop:
11