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!