Urban Archaeology Session 9: Cemeteries

Cemeteries

Urban ArchaeologySession 9

How did the grave develop?

Kevin Hale, geograph.org.uk

The Development of the Grave

• Following the Reformation headstones became more popular but were still the preserve of the wealthy.

• They increase in popularity until they become almost ubiquitous during the 19th century.

Significance of Cemetery

• Churchyards dominate from 8th Century AD until 1850s

• 1820s – Beginning of private cemeteries (business ventures)

• 1830-40s and more in the 1850s – Public cemeteries (Roman model of town outskirts)

• What can cemeteries or churchyards tell us?– Nature of a community– Changes in a community– Individuals in a community

The Cemetery• English Heritage definition:

– Churchyards: a burial ground around a church or other – place of worship – Burial grounds: a pre-Victorian place of burial without a – place of worship – Cemeteries: a landscaped place of burial

• See also the Cemetery Research Group’s definitionhttp://www.york.ac.uk/chp/crg/cemeterydef.htm • 1650s+ - NonConformist grounds founded, followed by Quaker and

Jewish• In 2006, the Ministry of Justice Burial Grounds Survey found just under

10,000 burial groundshttp://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/previous-stats/burial-grounds-survey

Whole Community

Locations of graves in churchyards tell us about the social status of the individual:• Church internment (and the closer to main altar

the better) or in private chapel/crypts – wealthy / political significance

• Eastern side of churchyard – higher classes • Southern side – lesser status• Northern corner – unbaptized, suicide,

excommunicated

Headstone styles

• 17th Century, personal inscriptions begin• 18th Century, higher status individuals being

being buried outside of the church, so from here onwards, more elaborate memorials exist

17th Century

(Left) © Copyright Walter Baxter

18th Century

Wikipedia.com

19th Century

20th Century

17th Century 18th Century 19th Century 20th Century

All about mortality. Skulls, hour glasses, bones, turf cutters, winged faces. Occupational Symbols

Imagery remains similar.

Fewer skulls! Symbols of salvation and afterlife. Anchors, Urns and Crosses are very Common

Explosion of images influenced by rapid stylistic change.

Often smaller, simpler geometric forms

Stones become taller and more regular shapes

Symmetrical shapes. Stones in rows. New materials: iron, concrete.

Range of shapes styles and materials. 19th century influence persists.

Distinctive irregular lettering. Bound letters. Archaic spelling.

Irregular ‘block capital’ lettering remains common. Also fine italic script.

Precise italic or capital letters. Modern fonts.

Range of fonts. Lettering is often applied to surface in metal.

Headstone materials• Stone

– Limestone– Sandstone– Marble– Slate– Granite

• Metal – Iron– Bronze– Lead

• Wood• Terracotta• Reconstituted stone

Which headstones have survived?

• Most headstones will date from post 1600• Earlier wooden memorials have perished• Some older stone have been removed

What is the headstone?

• Archaeological Artefact– Form and function

• Historical Document– Often replaces paper records

Headstone types• Marker stones

– And head and foot of grave. Name and date. • Headstones

– Inscription, and motif. Sometimes kerbstones. Set in ground. C19th onwards, concrete foundations.

• Ledger slabs – Inscribed. Body underneath. Loor markers inside, outside are level with ground. Coped

stone / bodystone similar but curved and raised. • Tomb chests

– Rectangular monuments, with top slab. Usually hollow, with metal cramps. • Pedestal tombs

– Similar to tomb chests but have legs/columns under the slab. • Allegorical sculpture

– Crosses, obelisks, etc. Victorian era sees figures such as angels and mourners. • Graveboards

– Wooden panels with inscription

Reading a headstone

Information: • Name• Date of birth and deathAdditional information:• Occupation• Family links• Nature of death• Beliefs & Actions in Life

Community history from headstones

• We can tell a lot about the makeup of a community from headstones.

• This is an example of symbols relating to trades commonly found on 19-20th century headstones in the UK.T.Asquith-Lamb from CSA, Introduction to Grave

Recording, www.scottishgraveyards.org.uk

Beliefs

• There are numerous indexes available online, some more accurate than others.

• The Church Monuments Society has a comprehensive glossary of 20th century symbols: http://www.churchmonumentssociety.org/Symbolism_on_Monuments.html

Memorials

Left to right: Wikipedia.com; geograph.org.uk

Locating headstones

• Local society website• Sometimes plot numbers from Parish registers• Nearly always plot numbers from Cemetery

registers

Mapping headstones

• Log using a handheld GPS device• Or register using a National Grid Reference– Use a 1:25000 scale Ordnance Survey map– Needs to be AT LEAST

6 figures– The first part of

this NGR will be TR– The second part

will be 975 and 583

Portable Antiquities Scheme website – ‘Getting grid references’, www.finds.org.uk/guide/torecording/gridreferences

Mapping headstones

• Or get a NGR online (see www.finds.org.uk for instructions to use these websites):– Magic - http://www.magic.gov.uk (although this

might change following Government reorganisations).– Wheresthepath -

http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm (OS and web mapping services side by side, brilliant!)

– Streetmap - http://www.streetmap.co.uk/– Nearby.org.uk - http://www.nearby.org.uk/ (great for

co-ordinate conversions etc)

Cemetery Plans

• You may wish to record a headstone’s location using an existing plot plan

Southampton Old Cemetery Plan of Plots, from www.southampton.gov.uk

Recording headstones

Check first at: • Gravestone Photographic Resource - http://

www.gravestonephotos.com/index.php • Local society website• Local authority website – e.g. http://

www.eastleigh.gov.uk/our-community/cemeteries-in-eastleigh/cemetery-database.aspx

Use a standard recording sheet:• Council for Scottish Archaeology example - http://

www.scottishgraveyards.org.uk/downloads/10GBasicForm.pdf

Enhance the Record!

• Draw the headstone/s• Photograph the headstone/s• Photogrammetry on headstone/s• Reflectance Transformation Imaging on

headstone/s