Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery (2020)

Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery, London

Visited July 2020

There is little more I can say about this lovely cemetery, one of my local ones, that I haven't said in previous blog posts. It's the first time I've visited in the height of summer, and as well as the gravestones, the memorials, the history, it turns out this is also a brilliant place to see butterflies in South East London. We were also lucky enough to see a hobby with its prey up a nearby tree while we paused to eat lunch. All of this, alongside the wonderful fungi found here every autumn, makes it a nature lover's paradise as well as a gravestone lover's paradise. Perfect!

St Nicholas, Deptford

Churchyard of St Nicholas, Deptford

Visited Sept 2020

The first thing you notice about the churchyard are the wonderful skull and crossbones on the gateposts of the entrance. Local legend says they were the inspiration behind the skull and crossbones on the pirate's jolly roger flag, but there's no evidence for that. They were put there in the late 17th or early 18th century as memento mori.

The walled churchyard dates to the late 17th century, ust inside the churchyard is the old charnel house. The site was in use for burials much longer than that. There's been a church on the site since at least the late 12th century, and in 1593 it's where the playwright Christopher Marlowe was buried. The site of his burial is now marked by a modern marble plaque on the wall. The current church dates to the late 17th century, when the old church was pulled down and this larger one built, with modern repairs and additions, although the base of the tower is older.

As with many churchyards, it's been cleared of most of the old burials. Only a few gravestones and monuments survive, many quite weathered, compared to what would have been present in its heyday. There are also some memorial and dedication plaques mounted on the external wall of the church itself. The survival of the 17th century walls, charnel house and skull topped gateposts are unique in London and well worth a visit.

The old charnel house, now used as a storeroom and workshop

Inverurie Bass Cemetery, Aberdeenshire

 Inverurie Bass Cemetery, Aberdeenshire

Visited August 2020

The old cemetery in Inverurie is on the southern outskirts of this market town in North-East Scotland, between the rivers Don and Urie. Most of the burials are Victorian and later, and the cemetery is still in use, but this is not the main draw.

There are some wonderful historical monuments within the cemetery. Most noticeable as you enter, there are the remains of the first Norman motte and bailey castle in north-east Scotland, built by the Lord of Garioch in the 1100s. It was, as with so many castles in Scotland, used by Robert the Bruce at one point. These two hills give the cemetery its name, and are known as the Bass and Little Bass. They're fenced off, but there's a gate into the motte and a steep path up to the top and a stile to get into the bailey.

At the foot of the motte, in a glass case, are four carved Pictish stones. They used to be out in the open in the cemetery, but following conservation have been moved and protected from the elements. They were previously built into the walls of the old church which once stood in the cemetery, and were found when it was demolished in the 18th century.

Despite the age of the site, most of the memorials are late Victorian and later, with the cemetery still in use today. Memorials are organised in neat rows, with a couple of circles in the middle. There are some fine memorials in local grey granite, but no epic mausoleums.

Kinkell Church, Aberdeenshire

 Kinkell Church, Aberdeenshire

Visited August 2020

Kinkell Church is a ruined church and associated churchyard in north east Scotland, under the care of Historic Scotland. It's down a small country road, and quite easy to miss, especially as the signs run out before the last junction!

The church has quite a history for such a small building. It was built in the 1200's as a simple, plain church - there's very little evidence for windows, but a selection of carved stone fragments on pallets at one end hints at a bit of decoration, probably from the east window. It was linked with the Knights Hospitallers in the 14th century, up until 1420. In the early 16th century it was remodelled and a sacrament house was added in the wall at one end in 1524, and although somewhat weathered the decoration can be seen. There's also a panel beside it depicting the crucifixion, although this is a replica - the original was removed some years ago and is now lost. In 1771 Kinkell Parish was merged with another nearby, and the church was abandoned and some of its stone used to build a new church in Keithhall

Within the church is a reused grave slab from the 15th century, which depicts Gilbert de Greenlaw, in armour, who died at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. It was reused for another burial in 1592, when it was cut down so the knight is missing his lower legs, and a Greek New Testament text (the earliest in Scotland) added.

There are more gravestones in the kirkyard surrounding the ruin. A couple are old, with memento mori, and may date back to when the church was in use. Others are more modern, Victorian and 20th century. In one corner is a group of memorials to the Tait family, who for over 150 years until 2009 owned the large Tait Paper Mill in nearby Inverurie, whose chimney can be seen from the kirkyard.

Gravestone of Gilbert de Greenlaw

Tait memorial, with chimey of paper mill seen in top left
corner

Resurrection Stone, St Andrews Holborn, London

 Resurrection Stone, St Andrews Holborn, London

Visited August 2020

This isn't a burial marker (although a few remain in the garden nearby, see photo second from bottom), but a splendid carving showing the dead being resurrected on the Day of Judgement. It likely dates from the late 17th century, and used to stand over the entrance to a pauper's burial ground on Shoe Lane, now completely vanished from trace and covered with modern buildings.

The stone is set in the exterior wall of St Andrews Holborn, and can be seen from the road at a distance or quite easily by going down into the landscaped churchyard. It's difficult to get up close to some parts due to being over a door and stairs down to the door, but there's a cracking 3D render of it here.

It's carved with scenes of the Last Judgement, with Christ in the centre welcoming the risen to his Kingdom with cherubs blowing trumpets to either side of him. Down below the dead clamber out of their coffins on the Last Day and reach upwards, and angels appear to guide them. It's a hopeful scene (despite the coffins and dead), and suggests that everyone is heading Heavenwards, rather than towards Hell. It was placed at the entrance to a pauper's burial ground, where it's likely very few of the interred or their surviving families were literate, so may have been a visual symbol of hope; the fact that all the dead are shown equal may also have been an indication that poverty was an earthly thing, and all are equal in the eyes of God?

There are two other resurrection scenes of this type in London which I've yet to visit. St Giles in the Fields has one carved in wood, which used to be part of the gateway. It's been replaced with a cast, and the original is inside the church to preserve it. I've walked past the church for many years but didn't spot the gate until researching this stone! So next time I'm in Bloomsbury or Soho, I'll go and find it. St Mary on the Hill in the City of London also has a resurrection stone, likely from over the entrance to the burial ground and again moved inside for safe-keeping. Another one to track down!

Rhynie Old Kirkyard, Aberdeenshire

 Rhynie Old Kirkyard, Aberdeenshire

Visited August 2020

Rhynie Old Kirkyard, in the little village of Rhynie near the foot of Tap O'Noth hillfort in Aberdeenshire, is a lovely, quiet place with an old feel to it. Accessed down a narrow road, there is a shelter in the carpark containing 4 Pictish stones. Two of these were found in the foundations of the old church when it was demolished,, and the field next to it contains the Craw Stane, still in situ, and is where the Pictish stone depicting 'Rhynie Man' was found.

Pictish stone in  car park of Rhynie cemetery

The cemetery was the kirkyard of the old St Luag's Church, which fell into disrepair in the late 18th century and was demolished in the 19th century and replaced by a new church in the village . There's no trace now of the old church, although I'm told if you look closely some old stones from it are built into the kirkyard wall. 

When you enter the kirkyard, you notice it's right on the edge of the village, with fields and woods on three sides. The gravestones in the area where you enter are from the 19th and 20th centuries (the kirkyard is still in use today) but head further back and things get older. Right at the back, against the west wall is the oldest in situ survivor a gothic looking memorial to local nobleman Alexander Gordon of Muirack, who died in October 1668. Strangely, it's located in the far corner from where the old church would have stood, possibly because he was a Catholic and the kirk was very much Presbyterian.

Beside Gordon's memorial is a Medieval stone sarcophagus, much older than this memorial and not part of it. It was found when the cemetery was cleared in the 19th century. At this time, many of the 18th century gravestones were moved to make way for new burials, and left against the west wall of the cemetery. They are much weathered and fairly illegible, although some memento mori including winged souls and skulls can still be seen. 

Alexander Gordon's memorial

Detail of Alexander Gordon's memorial

Medieval stone sarcophagus

18th century memorials along the back wall