Grave Mistakes: August 2017

My cemetery blog 1,000,000th reader. Wow!

When I started my cemetery-related blog back in July 2013 I hoped that I would receive about 100 page views a day - and that was pretty much what happened. What I never expected was the subsequent rapid growth in visitor numbers that I experienced.

By July 2014 I was getting 300 page views a day, by July 2015 it was 500, by July 2016 1,100 and by July 2017 it was 1,400 a day. On one memorable Saturday in 2017 3,950 pages were viewed!

Here is just a sample of some particularly interesting graves my wife and I have discovered -

A husband and wife who died on the same day - but several thousand miles apart.

We don't know the exact significance of this statue of an angel opening a tomb door.

Lillian died aged 105 having been a widow for over 70 years.

The mason got it very badly wrong.

Sir John Beauchamp was beheaded on Tower Hill and buried in Worcester Cathedral.

The splendid tomb of Sir Giles Reed and his family is one of the finest examples in the whole country.

Remembering the Kegworth Air Disaster of 1989.

This is one of the saddest poems we have ever read on a grave!

Henry Martin Sandbach died "from the effects of wounds received while lion hunting in Somaliland".

Leonard Lewis "died from the result of an accident in this Church Yard, in the service of the Church".

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Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?

FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

An unusual design featuring a double bass.

Gloucester Crematorium and Cemetery,
Gloucester, Gloucestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

An unusual design featuring a double bass.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?

FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

FACEBOOK CEMETERY EXPLORATION GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/345000398956884/

An unusual but highly effect design for a war memorial inside the church.

St Laurence, Measham, Leicestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

St. Laurence's Church was re-built in 1340 on the site of an existing chapel of ease which dated from 1172.

An unusual but highly effect design for a war memorial inside the church.

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"Ready for the marriage of the lamb."

Dolgellau Cemetery, Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Wales

(Click on an image for a larger version)

General view

"Ready for the marriage of the lamb."

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A mother and her young son died together.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Cemetery, Leicestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

A mother and her young son died together.

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Frank was killed on the railway at Birmingham New Street Station.

Waterside Cemetery, Evesham, Worcestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

Frank was killed on the railway at

Birmingham New Street Station.

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John Knotsford died in 1589 having been pre-deceased by his wife Jane in 1582. Their daughter Anne is shown kneeling at the foot of their tomb.

Priory Church of St Mary and St Michael, Great Malvern, Worcestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

Great Malvern Priory was a Benedictine monastery from1075-1540 and is now an Anglican parish church. It has the largest display of 15th century stained glass in England, as well as carved miserichords from the 15th and 16th century and the largest collection of medieval floor and wall tiles.

John Knotsford died in 1589 having been pre-deceased by his wife Jane in 1582. Their daughter Anne is shown kneeling at the foot of their tomb.
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In the chancel, above the sedilia, is the wall monument to Thomas Talbot, died 1613.

St Michael, Salwarpe, Worcestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

This is a lovely mediaeval church is set in a conservation area, close to the River Salwarpe and the canal. It is a surprisingly large church for such a small hamlet (no doubt due to its proximity to Salwarpe Court, which has connections to King Harold and Warwick the Kingmaker).

In the chancel, above the sedilia, is the wall monument to Thomas Talbot, died 1613, with two kneelers facing each other across a prayer-desk set in a round-arched niche; three kneeling children are carved beneath and the niche is flanked by Corinthian columns, above which are putti, and at the top centre is a coat of arms.

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St George and the Dragon

St James, Birlington, Worcestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

Apart from the 15th century west tower, the church was rebuilt in 1871-2. The original 12th century chancel arch is now the main churchyard entrance.

St George and the Dragon

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Mary, wife of the 2nd Baron Coventry, who died in childbirth in 1634.

St Mary Magdalene, Croome d' Habitot, Worcestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

St Mary Magdalene's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the grounds of Croome Court, at Croome D'Abitot, Worcestershire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

The original church at Croome was demolished by the 6th Earl of Coventry when he decided to replace his adjacent Jacobean house in the 1750s. Opulent monuments brought from the old church long since demolished, show the former Barons and Earls of Coventry.

Mary, wife of the 2nd Baron Coventry,
who died in childbirth in 1634.

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"Missed by Skip".

St Nicholas, Grosmont, Monmouth
(Click on an image for a larger version)

The church was built in the early 1200s, at around the same time as the castle and the magnificent Norman nave has survived unrestored. The Early English chancel was reconstructed in the 1870s by John Seddon, who rescued the whole church from a ruinous state and put in the glass screen dividing chancel and nave.

"Missed by Skip".

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"How numerous are the mouldering dead" is an unusual first line to a poem.

All Saints, Chebsey, Staffordshire
(Click on an image for a larger version)

Standing above the village on a natural mound of higher ground, the church is mostly built from reddish sandstone in the Gothic style and dates from the 12th century. The west tower dates from the 15th century, and is constructed from mostly grey with some red sandstone blocks. The external staircase turret (on the southeast corner of the tower) at Chebsey, is an unusual feature. The church was extensively renovated in 1897 under the supervision of Staffordshire ecclesiastical architect Andrew Capper.

"How numerous are the mouldering dead" is

an unusual first line to a poem.

Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?
FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUPhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

The ages and dates of death of six children of Richard and Elizabeth Evans make for sad reading.

All Saints, Bednall, Staffordshire (Click on an image for a larger version)

A chapel at Bednall dates from the 12th century. The present church of All Saints dates from 1846. The original chapel consisted of a nave and chancel and a wooden bell turret at its west end. Stained glass was added in the east and west windows in 1862 and 1894 respectively. The glass in the north windows and the desk and lectern date from 1915 and electric lighting was installed in 1937.

The ages and dates of death of six children of Richard and Elizabeth Evans make for sad reading.

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We don't know the exact significance of this statue of an angel opening a tomb door.

St Padarn, Llanbadarn, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion (Click on an image for a larger version)

Saint Padarn's Church is a parish church of the Church in Wales, and the largest mediaeval church in mid-Wales. Founded in the early sixth century, St Padarn's Church has gone through many changes, from a Welsh monastic centre (a clas), a Benedictine priory, a clas again, a royal rectory, a church controlled by Chester’s Vale Royal Abbey, and since 1538 a parish church under a vicar.

Very little is known of Saint Padarn (or Paternus to use his Latin name), and almost nothing with any degree of certainty; the earliest literary reference to him is by Rhygyfarch in about 1097.

We don't know the exact significance of this statue of an angel opening a tomb door.

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William Horton died in 1612 . The smallest of the 8 figures on his memorial is of a son who had died before him.

St James, Staunton, Gloucestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

The church of Saint James was originally a 12th-century church with short rectangular chancel and aisleless nave, the chancel afterwards being rebuilt and the tower and aisle added in later years. The nave windows are all of 14th-century type, apparently copies or restorations of work of that period, and the tower and spire are of late 14th-century date with a later west window. The church was heavily restored in 1860, when the chancel was rebuilt and the vestry added.

The inscription along the top of the Monument reads: William HORTON Esqvire Liethe here who died the 13 Day of November A.D. 1612 . The smallest of the 8 figures is of a son who had died before his father.

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There must be a particularly poignant back story here.

The Old Cemetery, Gloucester, Gloucestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

There must be a particularly poignant back story here.

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"Missing in Mexico 1969".

The Old Cemetery, Gloucester, Gloucestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

"Missing in Mexico 1969".
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Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?

FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

We missed U - only our second example of "text speak".

Gloucester Crematorium and Cemetery,
Gloucester, Gloucestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

We missed U - only our second example of "text speak".---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?

FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

"Not a saint - more a fast-tracking angel".

Gloucester Crematorium and Cemetery,
Gloucester, Gloucestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

A general view

"Not a saint - more a fast-tracking angel".
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Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?

FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/

The remarkable memorial to a sculptor

St Mary, Hartpury, Gloucestershire

(Click on an image for a larger version)

The present church, now dedicated to St. Mary, was built before 1100 and like all early Norman churches, would have been dark with massively thick walls and small round arched high-level window openings. During the early part of the 14th century the original windows in the nave were enlarged and the present large presbytery (chancel) and sanctuary were added to accommodate the more elaborate ceremonial of the time. The tower was built detached, but immediately adjoining the church, during the early part of the 14th century.

Patrick was a Sculptor for 70 years.

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A husband and wife who died on the same day - but several thousand miles apart.

St Mary, Hartpury, Gloucestershire (Click on an image for a larger version)

A husband and wife who died on the same day - but several thousand miles apart.

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Where is the best place to see pictures of other unusual graves?

FACEBOOK SOCIAL HISTORY GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609806292391471/