St Edmund's churchyard in Southwold (Suffolk)

[night crawler]

I hate to think how many I have seen, most churchyards I visit have them and on the tombs you see on the floor inside

 

[Sarah Waldock]

I was born in Beccles and we used to return on holiday, one of the few places which has a bell tower separate to the church; I used to find bellringing practice on wednesday evenings very soothing to off to sleep with a good peal of ten, an abiding memory of childhood, and something I've always missed, not being close enough to St Mary le Tower in Ipswich to hear its changes rung unless the wind is right. It was the sexton [I think] who told me about the significance of skulls when he found me in rapt contemplation of a grave stone of a little girl called Sarah who had died at about the age I was then. Beccles has changed a lot, Manor House Lane is no longer a lane of cottages with outside lavatories and no hot water.

 

[PhilR]

Ooh, I didn't know that. Thanks for adding to my store of burial lore.

I am with you on the subject of skulls. I also have an unhealthy fascination with cadaver tombs.

The Victorians had a particular love of using symbols in /on their gravestones.
The following are some of the more common symbols found on gravestones, along with their meanings.
ANCHOR - a symbol of hope, or the deceased was a seaman.
ANGEL - a guide to Heaven.
ARCH - symbolizing a triumphant entry into Heaven or victory over death.
ARROW - symbolizing mortality or martyrdom.
BEEHIVE - symbol of abundance in the Promised Land or piety or domestic virtue or
faith.
BELL - a symbol of religious faith or religion.
BIRD - a symbol of eternal life, spirituality, Messenger of God, or peace.
BOOK - a symbol of the Divine Word or the deceased's lifetime accomplishments.
BURNING FLAME - a symbol of eternal life or resurrection.
BUTTERFLY - a symbol of resurrection.
CELTIC CROSS - a symbol of faith and eternity.
CIRCLE - a symbol of eternity, life never ending.
CLOUDS - a symbol of the Divine abode, Heaven.
CROSS - a symbol of faith and resurrection. Many military markers, in particular for
Veterans of World War I, have a cross etched into the gravestone.
CROWN - a symbol of glory of life after death.
DOVE – a symbol of love, purity, resurrection and or the Holy Spirit.
EAGLE - many gravestones of Civil War veterans were engraved with images of eagles.
FINGER (pointing downward) - a symbol of calling the earth to witness.
FINGER ( pointing upward) - symbolizing the pathway to Heaven or the deceased found
Heavenly reward.
FISH - symbolizing spiritual nourishment, faith, or deceased was a Christian.
FLOWER - a symbol of immortality.
FLYING BIRD - a symbol of rebirth.
GARLAND - symbolizes victory over death.
GRIM REAPER - a symbol found on many early gravestones, meaning the inevitability
of death.
HANDS (CLASPED) - a symbol meaning farewell and the hope of meeting again in
eternity.
HARP - a symbol of hope.
HEART - a symbol of love, devotion, joy, and/or mortality.
HOURGLASS - a symbol of the swift passage of time, as in the shortness of life on earth.
LAMB - a symbol meaning innocence; used primarily on an infant's or a child's
gravestone.
LILY - a symbol of purity and/or chastity.
MYRTLE LEAVES - a symbol of undying love and/or peace.
OAK LEAVES - a symbol of faith and virtue and/or endurance.
OBELISK - a symbol quite popular during the 1880's through the 1930's, meaning
rebirth, connection between earth and Heaven.
OLIVE BRANCH - a symbol of peace, forgiveness, one's humanity.
OPEN GATES - a symbol of afterlife and the deceased's soul entering into Heaven.
PYRAMID – a symbol meaning resurrection, eternal life, enlightenment, spiritual
attainment.
RAINBOW – a symbol of union, fulfillment of the promise of resurrection.
ROPE CIRLE - a symbol of eternity.
ROSE - a symbol of love, victory, triumph, and/or purity.
SCYTHE - symbol of a life cut short, death, or the final harvest.
SHEAF of WHEAT - a symbol of old age, a fruitful life.
SKULL - a symbol used in the early to mid-1800's representing mortality and or
penitence. A winged skull meant that the deceased ascended into Heaven.
SLEEPING CHERUB - a symbol of innocence used primarily on an infant's or a child's
gravestone.
SWALLOW – a symbol of motherhood, the spirit of children, or a symbol of consolation.
SWORD - symbolizes the deceased's military service.
SWORDS (CROSSED) - symbolizes that the deceased died in battle.
TREE – a symbol of life, knowledge, the fall of man through sin, or human frailty.
TREE STUMP - symbol of a life interrupted.
TRUMPET - symbol announcing the resurrection of the deceased's soul entering into
Heaven.
URN - symbol for the soul, immortality or penitence.
WHEEL - symbolizes the cycle of life, enlightenment, spiritual power.
WREATH of ROSES - a symbol of Heavenly joy and bliss.

 

[Sarah Waldock]

isn't the bee or beehive also a symbol of marital fidelity and harmony? and of course the funeral wreaths of the time would have used the language of flowers, even as the flowers from Buckingham Palace were used to speak on the Queen's coffin - the sprig of myrtle from a bush grown from the sprig in her own wedding bouquet is also marital love, and there was rosemary for remembrance. a wreath of wormwood, asphodel and white roses might be for a young woman betrothed who had not yet married, regret, bitterness, purity, and love unfulfilled.

 

[PhilR]

isn't the bee or beehive also a symbol of marital fidelity and harmony? and of course the funeral wreaths of the time would have used the language of flowers, even as the flowers from Buckingham Palace were used to speak on the Queen's coffin - the sprig of myrtle from a bush grown from the sprig in her own wedding bouquet is also marital love, and there was rosemary for remembrance. a wreath of wormwood, asphodel and white roses might be for a young woman betrothed who had not yet married, regret, bitterness, purity, and love unfulfilled.

I've never heard of the bee, or beehive, used in the context of marital fidelity, or harmony.
Flowers had a huge significance, which has sadly been lost today, although you can't forget the meaning of the forget-me-not, and the colour of a pure white lily would surely make anyone think of purity.

 

[Sarah Waldock]

I've never heard of the bee, or beehive, used in the context of marital fidelity, or harmony.
Flowers had a huge significance, which has sadly been lost today, although you can't forget the meaning of the forget-me-not, and the colour of a pure white lily would surely make anyone think of purity.

it's why the name 'Deborah' was popular

 

[PhilR]

it's why the name 'Deborah' was popular

The Old Testament Book of Judges describes Deborah as a heroine and prophetess. The name is a Jewish one, which may explain it's popularity, so could it being a biblical name, or just because people liked the sound of it.

 

[Sarah Waldock]

The Old Testament Book of Judges describes Deborah as a heroine and prophetess. The name is a Jewish one, which may explain it's popularity, so could it being a biblical name, or just because people liked the sound of it.

people were more aware of the meanings of names then, and their associations, I believe

 

[night crawler]

I thought Anchor meant a anchored to earth rather than a seaman which I have not seen mentioned on many