Gravestones, Tombs & Memorials (7 page)

FIG 2.22:
Some headstones were more elaborate although not quite on the scale of the tombs and monuments of the period. The examples above are (from left to right) a broken column, obelisk, angel, and rustic cross, the latter on a pile of rocks.

Ledgers, Body Stones and Coped Stones

A ledger (a flat stone laid horizontally over the grave) was a natural progression from those used during the medieval period in the floor of the church itself. They may have been preferred by those who believed they trapped the souls of the dead to prevent them coming back to haunt the living, and later it may have discouraged Resurrectionists. They can be found from all periods and in all regions but seem especially popular in the northern counties. Some are flush with the ground and tend to have grass growing over their edges, others are raised on low plinths presumably to avoid this happening, while in Cheshire and Lancashire the slabs were often used to form paths. Symbols and images are rare on ledgers except for a few simple carvings in the corners or decoration around the edge. Most are just a mass of text, recording family members, often over a number of generations, the changes in font indicating later burials beneath.

There were other stone objects used to cover the grave horizontally. The coped stone was a form of memorial used in the medieval period and into the 17th century but fell from favour until revived by the Victorians, who usually raised it upon a low plinth. It takes the form of a structure no more than a foot or so high, often with a short section at right angles to form a cross shape. Body stones were semicircular tapering blocks laid often between the head and foot-stone, while another form was to build a coffin-shaped structure in the same position (see
Fig 1.11
).

All of these memorials were simple markers with text. At their finest in the 18th century they could be works of art but they pale into insignificance compared with some of the spectacular and ostentatious memorials which were built for the wealthiest members of the parish. In the next chapter we look at tombs and monuments, which have some of the finest vernacular sculpture in the country and are often just lying covered in ivy in some forgotten churchyard.

FIG 2.23:
Ledgers often cover family graves and display the changing types of text over the decades and centuries as the slab was filled up.

FIG 2.24:
Two types of Victorian coped stones, the left-hand example with a cross-shaped headstone, the right-hand in a cruciform plan with decorative gable ends. Note also the triangular headed gravestone with rustic log surround and the semi-circular one at the rear, two other popular forms of Victorian memorial.

C
HAPTER
3

Chest Tombs and Monuments

FIG 3.1: PAINSWICK, GLOS:
Rather than an upright slab at the head of a grave, a tomb was a large, usually hollow, structure of greater pretensions raised above the burial. Few graveyards have such a dramatic display as Painswick, packed with flamboyant tombs, pedestals and even a pyramid with the famous yew trees as a backdrop.

F
or those in the parish with a bit more money than the middling sort – or those who wanted it to appear as such – a chest tomb might be just the sort of lasting memorial which would raise them above the ranks of ordinary gravestones. Derived from the altar tombs with which the local gentry filled their medieval churches, these were of similar proportions, roughly twice as long as wide, but without the effigy lying along the top. Although some were made from a solid block, most were hollow with the side panels slotting in or fixed with iron brackets to stone corner posts, with a large
ledger placed over the top. The inside of the chest was always empty, with the body being buried below the ground in the usual manner.

The style of chest tomb changed over the years. The images and symbols used upon them follow similar lines to those on gravestones but, with the greater surface available for decoration, many tend to be more elaborate and with full-size figures. Occasionally ones from the late 16th century can be found in churchyards today, but it is more likely that the earliest you will find will date from after the Restoration. These first examples tend to have a narrow body with a thick slab across the top and a deep overhang; decoration if it is still legible is confined to heraldic panels or basic symbols, with some completely plain other than the thickly-cut lettering.

As with gravestones, the masons quickly developed their skills and before the end of the 17th century finer quality pieces were being produced. The panels became fielded (with a central section bordered by a chamfered recess like a door) and decorated with full-size figures representing time, death and resurrection on the finest examples. The corner posts could be formed into pilasters (flat columns) and the ledger reduced in bulk with a smaller overhang. This form remained popular through the 18th century and can sometimes be found in a churchyard set in a family group.

FIG 3.2:
Don't be alarmed when you see a chest tomb with a cracked or missing side, a skeletal arm will not reach out to grab you! The body was always interred below ground with the hollow interior empty.

Towards the end of the century delicate and shallow-carved decoration came into fashion with the new symbols such as the urn and contemporary decoration like Greek key used on these more refined memorials. There was also a wider range of forms available, some shaped like a sarcophagus with sloping sides narrowing towards the bottom. Others known as pedestal tombs were smaller in plan but taller, often with an urn mounted on the top.

FIG 3.3:
Early and mid 17th-century chest tombs tend to have plain thin bodies with a heavy, deep overhanging ledger on top.