A Macabre Gravestone in Kirknewton Burial Ground
Introduction
The photograph on this page of A Macabre Gravestone in Kirknewton Burial Ground by Ian Dodds as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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A Macabre Gravestone in Kirknewton Burial Ground
Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 6 Aug 2020
They don't make 'em like they used to! Apparently gravestones like this were all the rage a couple of hundred years ago. So long as you had the cash of course - they must have took some amount of carving. This is the most impressive one I found but there are other more basic ones nearby - they're mostly in a cluster towards the bottom end of the enclosure. The most common symbols are skulls and cossbones, angels/wings, and hourglasses. If the hourglass is on its side, as is the case with this one, it is said to signify that the deceased's life was cut short too soon. Other symbols generally relate to the trade of the person.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.88706
Longitude
-3.418062