Grave Mistakes: March 2015

Guest post

Hello there cherubs!

If you thought that was an unusual greeting, coming from Martin, who is 60 (and looks it). You’d be right.

Because today is a first for Grave Mistakes… *drum roll* A guest post! With me, the ever-delightful and some-time helper in the field of grave collecting, his charming daughter, Sally.

I told him off for his last post where he was moaning about no-one reading/buying his book. I said it made him sound like a right grumpy little misery-guts, and if it turned you off buying it, that’ll teach him.

Anyway, I’m here to give the inside track on grave collecting. Mostly it consists of eating sandwiches on a cold bench on a windy hillside, getting a bit lost and getting mud all up your back because you’ve fallen down again.

An average grave-collecting expedition starts with a long and involved consultation of the map – in which everything is marked in exacting detail. The two of them plot a rough route through the country lanes. Claire is calm and methodical. Martin gets raucous and over-excited. Sandwiches are packed, and they’re off!

Martin does the first bit of driving even though he can’t park or reverse.

And here begins a list of "Things That Can Go Wrong" whilst grave hunting:

· The gate is locked or otherwise won’t open. Meaning you have to brute-strength it open, or climb over – and that isn’t especially elegant for two folk of a certain age.

· The graves are not in straight, uniform lines. There’s 2 there, both facing different directions, there one over there, lying down, and there’s 3 more over there, in that corner, miles away, down a steep and wet bank of grass.

· Whilst travelling down that steep, wet bank, someone inevitably falls over. Cue “there’s mud all up my coat!” “I’m wet now!” “My socks are soaking!” “I think I’ve broken my wrist. Seriously!) ß He hadn’t. And, to be fair, that didn’t happen on a cemetery trip, but… men are whiners.

· The church is locked.

· It is raining.

· It is blowing a gale.

· Someone else is there, and wants to engage you in detailed talk of architecture, church events, or something else of zero interest and you can’t escape them.

· People give you strange looks and some ask what you’re doing, as they watch you peer at every single stone, forcing an explanation from you, and polite smiles and sometimes backing away from them.

· The camera battery dies.

· The sandwiches are squashed.

· Having to listen to adults going “beep beep beep!” when they find something interesting. Which is a bit weird, as you’ll agree.

· Your coat is still muddy and wet.

So, pretty please, buy their books. It would make their little faces happy, and it has the perk of boosting my inheritance. Thanks a lot!

Oh, and I’ve read the books, and they aren’t half bad. So, don’t buy that Starbucks this week, buy a book instead. You wonderous, charming readers, you.

This book was published in March 2015 and is now available from Amazon in the USA

This book was published in March 2015 and is now available from Amazon in the UK

Specimen pages from Amazon previewer

"... murdered .... by a band of marauding savages ..." in 1895.

Hereford Cathedral, Hereford, Herefordshire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

The cathedral is dedicated to two patron saints, namely Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 792. The current Hereford Cathedral dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is the Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world dating from the 13th century.

"... murdered .... by a band of marauding savages ..." in 1895.

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

Group update - March 2015

It has been an "interesting" couple of weeks as the Administrator of this Facebook group!

There has been a sudden flurry of Chinese spammers trying to join us. None as far as I know have sneaked past my ever watchful eyes. Strangely over the same time-frame there have been far fewer genuine applications from possible new members so if you do know of anybody who might be interested please point them in our direction.

OK - I am rather surprised and disappointed by the lack of sales of my "Unusual Gravestones" book. There are over 2000 members of the group but fewer than 1% of you purchased a copy from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk.

I absolutely understand that there will be people who are not in a position to spend money on a book. But I don't think Claire and I are being unreasonable to expect at least 10% of members to show their support for the work we do.

Every member who buys a book is helping us to continue searching for unusual graves to show you.

This book was published in March 2015 and is now available from Amazon in the USA

This book was published in March 2015 and is now available from Amazon in the UK

Specimen pages from Amazon previewer

Can you see the spelling mistake?

St Michael and All Angels, Eaton Bishop, Herefordshire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

Although a building existed here before the Norman Conquest, construction of the tower and enlargement of the church took place post-conquest. A major restoration occurred in 1885 and the organ was installed in 1888. A rare feature is the almost complete carriage drive around the church. However, the most notable feature is the medieval stained glass of the East window considered by Nicolas Pevesner to be “the finest decorated glass in the country…”.

This magnificant gravestone is starting to delaminate and it is likely that the next generation of grave-hunters will not be able appreciate its former glory. Can you see a mis-spelling?

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

Their infant son choked to death on a cherry in 1708.

St Mary the Virgin, Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire

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Essentially the church is Victorian although the font is thirteenth century.

A monument of about 1760 to Earl Conyngsby and his wife and their infant son who choked to death on a cherry in 1708. The memorial is incomplete. There is no inscription, the decoration at the top of the memorial has only been completed on one side, and the earl's hand is resting on a spur of unprocessed stone.

Clara was only 36 when she died having only survived her husband by 26 days.

St Mary, Clifford, Herefordshire

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Almost on the border with Wales this church stands high on a wooded hill with views to the River Wye.

Clara was only 36 when she died having only survived her husband by 26 days.

Also her four brothers and one sister who died in their infancy.

St Michael and All Angels, Moccas, Herefordshire

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St Michael's was built around 1130, on the site of a much earlier 5th century church dedicated to St Dyfrig, or Dubricius (see Madley). The building is of local tuffa with sandstone dressing. The most appealing feature of the church is that it has undergone very little rebuilding or restoration work over the centuries, so that it retains much of its medieval character.

"Also her four brothers and one sister who died in their infancy."

Another example of gravestones being treated like old junk!

St Bartholomew, Munsley, Herefordshire

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It is easy to imagine this little church as it would have looked when completed in 1100 because there has been comparatively little alteration. Many of the original narrow window openings have survived, splayed on the inside to let in as much light as possible, without too much wind and rain. There was once a doorway on the north side, but this is now blocked, and the present doorway is 14th Century, with the porch rebuilt during the 1863 restoration.

These old gravestones have been piled up in an unsightly heap beside the church.

A gravestone being eaten by a tree!

St Mary, Donnington, Herefordshire

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This Parish church has its origins in the early 14th century. It was altered and restored in the 1860s and 1870s.

The top of the cross appears to have been carried upwards as the tree grew.

Three generations of the same family served the congregation from 1888 until 2008 - 120 years.

St Michael and All Angels, Little Marcle, Herefordshire

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The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels was consecrated in 1869 and replaced it's predecessor about 50 yards away as a result of the patronage of Rev John Jones who died in 1859 who was former rector of the old church .

Three generations of the same family served the congregation from 1888 until 2008 - 120 years.

The dates quoted do not appear to be correct.

Ledbury Cemetery, Ledbury, Herefordshire

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The only person we saw to speak to during the entire day was a lady tidying her husband's grave in the far corner of the cemetery.

"... presumed killed in action in France ..." The dates quoted do not appear to be correct.

How quickly did you notice the mistake in the inscription?

St James the Great, Colwall, Herefordshire

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St James's has an aisled nave with no clerestorey, a chancel with a north vestry and organ room and a tower at the west end of the nave, south of the south aisle. The nave arcades are of five bays; the south arcade dating from the 13th century and the north from 1880.

How quickly did you notice the mistake in the inscription?

He was drowned when a lifeboat capsized during a rescue attempt.

All Saints, Coddington, Herefordshire

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The church building is Early English, replacing an earlier Saxon church. It has many interesting features including the east window made by Morris & Co and some fine embroidered altar frontals by William Morris.

Francis Vale was Chief Officer of the "Melbourne" - he was drowned when a lifeboat capsized during a rescue attempt.

We loved the skull and crossbones that formed such a key feature of the design.

Holy Trinity, Bosbury, Herefordshire

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A fine transitional church, neither Norman nor Early English, built around 1180 adjoining the Bishop's Palace of Bosbury. The massive detached bell-tower was clearly built for defence some forty years later. Its spire was lost after being struck by lightning in 1638.

We loved the skull and crossbones that formed such a key feature of the design.

This three-dimensional sculpture of a rose is the key feature of this unique memorial.

St Andrew, Pixley, Herefordshire

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This tiny church dates back to the 13th century.

This three-dimensional sculpture of a rose is the key feature of this unique memorial.

The memorial to baby John Hamilton who died in 1851 is quite charming.

St Michael and All Angels, Ledbury, Herefordshire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

St Michael and All Angels Church in Ledbury is reckoned to be the finest non-monastic church in Herefordshire. It is one of the seven churches in Herefordshire to have a separate bell tower. This beautiful vast church is mostly 13th and 14th century with Anglo-Saxon origins.

The memorial to baby John Hamilton who died in 1851 is quite charming.

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

To all members of the Facebook Social History group

There are over 2000 members of the group and you tell us that you enjoy seeing the pictures that we post. We value your comments and feedback. We have visited all the graveyards close to our home, and now have to travel a significant distance to find new gravestones of interest, which is becoming expensive. We have calculated that each trip is now costing us about $75.00 and that each new discovery is costing us the profit from the sale of a single book.

If all members show their appreciation of the time, money and effort that we put into our project by buying our book it will really help us to continue finding more interesting things to show you.

About the authors - Martin and Claire Nicholson own one of the largest archives of grave related photographs in the world. A selection of their work appears in the blog "Grave Mistakes" that has had over a quarter of a million hits since it was launched in 2013. Other examples appear in the Facebook group "Social History" where Martin acts as the group administrator.

The authors have viewed millions of gravestones, and are offering readers a selection of the rare and unusual gravestones that they have seen, with full-colour illustrations. Each category of type of gravestone, age of person, cause of death, rare names, and errors found on gravestones are given a points score to indicate rarity.

This book was published in March 2015 and is now available from Amazon in the USA

This book was published in March 2015 and is now available from Amazon in the UK

Specimen pages from Amazon previewer

This was a quite superb wooden war memorial.

Holy Trinity, Calverhall, Shropshire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

We were able to get the key to the church from the estate office just up the road.

This was a quite superb wooden war memorial.

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

Calldecott becomes Caldecott further down the stone.

Christ Church, Ash Magna, Shropshire

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There was no medieval church on this site - the current building was erected in 1836.

Calldecott becomes Caldecott further down the stone.

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

Missing somewhere in France

Barnsley Cemetery, Barnsley, South Yorkshire

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We visited this cemetery because of family links to Barnsley, and were very pleased with how well the whole of the very large cemetery was kept. We were shocked at how dangerous the mining industry used to be.

"Missing somewhere in France".

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

He died of wounds received at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815

Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, Worcestershire

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Built between 1084 and 1504, Worcester Cathedral represents every style of English architecture from Norman to Perpendicular Gothic. It is famous for its Norman crypt and unique chapter house, As it is surrounded by secular buildings it is very difficult to photograph.

Colonel Sir Henry Walton Ellis, KCB (1783 – 20 June 1815) was a British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. He died of wounds received at the Battle of Waterloo.

All my new discoveries are published first on the social history group on Facebook so if you want to keep up to date with what is happening you will need to subscribe to the group by clicking on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/