Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery

The Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery is hidden away outside of Paola which is a short bus ride from Valetta. When I visited the cemetery it was 35 degrees centigrade and very dry. The dust clouds formed a haze that found its way into the mouth and up the nose. The Maltese bus drivers didn’t seem to know where the cemetery was located and had even less knowledge as to which bus stop I should use. This is a surprise becasue the cemetery is huge and the final resting place for many Maltese.

I managed to find the place easily enough and managed to cross the busy lanes of traffic that separates the blisteringly hot cemetery on the hillside from the population down below. The British neo-Gothic style marks the cemetery out from the usual baroque structures on the island. The formality of the entrance arch and the Church formed a backdrop that was impressive although it left me unprepared for the enormous cemetery that lay behind the walls. The burials are found in below ground mausolea capped by marble slabs and stele as well as above ground monuments. The marble used in the structures and monuments would fill an entire quarry. The cemetery is marvellous,  worth seeing and part of the 'world class' list of cemeteries that could be compiled. The usual names are found here "Azzopardi", "Caruana" and "Borg" are present and laid out in strict well maintained lines with their neighbours and friends.

Access to the cemetery is in ‘drives’ along the contours of the hill and when I was there a funeral was taking place with relatives making their way in large black cars. The Maltese understand the importance of funerals and the big black car behind the hearse is a well used metaphor on the island. The signs at the entrance were a shock because they were clearly forbidding photographs and I have to say that I was disappointed. There was so much to photograph although I follow the rules and if the sign says no photographs then there are no photographs. The temptation was great as there appeared to be no one around although I believe in behaving ethically when visiting burial sites. My apologies for the absence of pictures.

The burials are well laid out and protected, at least at the first glance, although on a closer inspection it becomes clear that some above ground structures have been damaged and items on the walls appear to have been broken and carried away. So much for the 'Marquis of this and that' who would find their monuments looking a little sad with a dry and flimsy wooden door revealing the walls now lacking ornamentation.Presumably ripped from the walls by thieves. The Maltese newspapers carry stories about thefts from tombs and I think I saw the brutal evidence of such thefts.  



Looking for the Commonwealth war graves at
Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery
© Godric Godricson

 I looked inside the metal grills of various funerary chapels and found no inhumations with all burials being decently below ground. Unfortunately, The dry heat eventually took its toll and after an hour or so wandering amongst the monuments, I had to leave for the bus back to Valetta and a cold drink.

On the way out of the cemetery, I asked for the section maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission although the caretaker didn’t speak English and he seemed a little blunt even when speaking Malti to other visitors. I should say that the photograph alongside this comment was taken at Kalkara.

Victorian Cross

© Godric Godricson

Victorian Gardens of rest





A broad pathway at Tomnahurich

©Michelle of Crowsfeet blog



The Victorians planned many wonderful garden cemeteries that cleared away the horrors of the cemetery as described by Edwin Chadwick and the Sexton in "Dealings with the Dead".  Tomnahurich near Inverness is a wonderful Scottish example of this sort of Garden Cemetery. My thanks for the photographs.

Vault desecrated in Lancashire

“SICK” teenage vandals have been slammed for desecrating an historic family vault in Blackburn Cemetery. [For the full story see the Lancashire Telegraph]

Reproduced : Courtesy of The Lancashire Telegraph

Fakenham

© Godric Godricson



The cemetery in Fakenham just out of the town. The mouments are a little suburban.

Fakenham Cemetery



 

© Godric Godricson



This is the scene from inside the Fakenham Cemetery looking out. The cemetery is a little industrial and appears tired. There are poorly maintained pathways surfaced in thin gravel. In need of a good sweep, the cemetery is fairly modern dating from the 1930's from the age of the headstones.

Without any sign of imagination and with no evidence of funding by the local Council; the cemetery fulfils a basic need to be buried near Fakenham and little else besides.

Kensal Green

I wanted to show you something of the English way of burying people. This is Kensal Green and a very traditional way of disposing of the dead in London. Have a look and see what you think. The atmosphere is formal and restrained and the cemetery has so much more dignity for the rich than, say, Hart Island and other 'potter's Field' type cemeteries offered to the poor departed.

Sophia Ann Goddard - Norwich



Norfolk Annals 1801



“The remains of Miss Sophia Goddard, of the Theatre Royal, Norwich, were interred at St. Peter Mancroft.  Mr. Hindes, the manager, and the principal actors attended on the melancholy occasion.  This young lady had obtained considerable reputation on the Norwich boards, and was making rapid advance to eminence in her profession when death prematurely deprived the theatrical world of an actress whose talents would have ensured her success on any stage.  She supported with great fortitude and resignation a long and painful illness, brought on by exertions that her constitution was unequal to, and died on Sunday last (March 15, 1801), in her 26th year, sincerely beloved and lamented by her family and friends.”

Saints Peter and Paul - Knapton

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul was seen on a warm day in April after the rains had passed. The grass was wet and the bird song was loud. A wonderful day in Norfolk!



© Godric Godricson



Cornish Celtic Cross

© Godric Godricson

Have a look at Joy Neighbours comments on the Celtic Cross . Joy is a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

Old churchyards in 1896



Disappearing 1930's Kerb graves

© Godric Godricson

 "That the state of the old churchyards in this country, down to the middle of the nineteenth century, was a public scandal and disgrace, is a remark which applies especially to London, where burial-grounds, packed full of human remains, were still made available for interments on a large scale until 1850 or later. The fact was the more discreditable in contrast with the known example of Paris, which had, as early as 1765, closed all the city graveyards, and established cemeteries beyond the suburbs. One of the laws passed at the same time by the Parliament of Paris directed that the graves in the cemeteries should not be marked with stones, and that all epitaphs and inscriptions should be placed on the walls, a regulation which appears to have been greatly honoured in the breach. In 1776 Louis XVI., recognizing the benefit which Paris had derived from the city decree, prohibited graveyards in all the cities and towns of France, and rendered unlawful interments in churches and chapels; and in 1790 the National Assembly passed an Act commanding that all the old burial-grounds, even in the villages, should be closed, and others provided at a distance from habitations. Other States of Europe took pattern by these enlightened proceedings, and America was not slow in making laws upon the subject; but Great Britain, and its worst offender, London, went on in the old way, without let or hindrance, until 1850, For fifteen years prior to that date there had been in progress an agitation against the existing order of things, led by Dr. G.A. Walker, a Drury Lane surgeon, living in a very nest of churchyard fevers, who wrote a book and several pamphlets, delivered public lectures, and raised a discussion in the public press. The London City Corporation petitioned Parliament in 1842 for the abolition of burials within the City, and a Select Committee of the House of Commons was at once entrusted with an enquiry on the subject.

In the same year (1842) a Export was presented to Parliament by the Select Committee on "The Improvement of the Health of Towns," and especially on "The Effect of the Interment of Bodies in Towns." Its purport may be summed up in the following quotation:

"The evidence ... gives a loathsome picture of the unseemly and demoralizing practices which result from the crowded condition of the existing graveyards—practices which could scarcely have been thought possible in the present state of society.... We cannot arrive at any other conclusion than that the nuisance of interments in great towns and the injury arising to the health of the community are fully proved."



Pentney in the snow

© Godric Godricson

 Among the witnesses examined were Sir Benjamin Brodie and Dr. G.R. Williams. In 1846 a Bill was prepared to deal with the matter, but it was not until 1850 that an Act was passed "To make better provision for the Interment of the Dead in and near the Metropolis." Powers were conferred upon the General Board of Health to establish cemeteries or enlarge burial-grounds, and an Order in Council was made sufficient for closing any of the old churchyards either wholly or with exceptions to be stipulated in the order. One month's notice was all that was needed to set the Act in operation, and in urgent cases seven days; but it was found necessary in 1851 to pass another Act for the purpose of raising funds; and in 1852 a more stringent Act was put upon the Statute Book to deal summarily with the churchyards. This was, in the the following session, extended to England and Wales, the General Board of Health having reported strongly in favour of a scheme for "Extra-mural Sepulture" in the country towns, declaring that the graveyards of these places were in no better condition than those of London.

Consequently, in the years which followed 1850, a general closing of churchyards took place throughout the Metropolis, and to a lesser extent throughout the kingdom, and an active crusade against all similar  burial-grounds was instituted, which may be said to be still in operation. The substitution of new cemeteries in remote and mostly picturesque places was of immediate advantage in many ways, but it did little or nothing to remedy the dilapidated appearance of the old graveyards, which indeed, now that they brought in no revenues, became in many cases painfully neglected, dejected, and forlorn. Happily, in 1883, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association was established, and its influence has been very marked in the improvement of the old enclosures and their conversion into recreation grounds. The Metropolitan Board of Works, the London County Council, the City Corporation, public vestries, and private persons, have shared in the good work, but the chief instrument has been the Public Gardens Association.



Pentney in the snow

© Godric Godricson

 Of old burial-grounds now open as public gardens in the London district there are more than a hundred. Care is always taken to preserve the sacred soil from profane uses, games being prohibited, and the improvements confined to paths and seats, levelling the ground and planting with trees and flowers. The gravestones, though removed to the sides of the enclosure, are numbered and scheduled, and all in which any living person can claim an interest are left untouched. No stones are ever destroyed in the process of reformation, but previous ill-usage and natural decay have rendered very many of them illegible, and in another century or so all these once fond memorials will probably have become blank and mute.

To the middle of the nineteenth century may also be assigned the change which we now see in the character of our gravestones. Quite in the beginning of the century the vulgar and grotesque carvings and Scriptural barbarisms of the eighteenth century had given place to a simple form of memorial in which it was rare to find the least effort at ornament; but, as soon as the Burial Acts were passed and the old churchyards were succeeded by the new cemeteries, the tasteful and elegant designs which are to be seen in every modern burial-ground were introduced, founded in great measure upon the artistic drawings of Mr. D.A. Clarkson, whose manifold suggestions, published in 1852, are still held in the highest admiration".

Project Gutenburg : GRAVESTONES OLD AND CURIOUS.

With One Hundred and Two Illustrations  BY W. T. VINCENT

Andrew Brown d. 14th January 1768

"Here lyeth the remains of Andrew Brown,

who departed this life the 14th day of

January 1768, aged 66 years. Also of

Mary his wife, who departed this life the

3d day of July 1802, aged 88 years."

The subject scarcely needs to be interpreted, being obviously intended to illustrate the well-known  passage in the Burial Service: "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised ... then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in Victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" The reference in another ritual to the Lord of Life trampling the King of Terrors beneath his feet seems also to be indicated, and it will be noticed that the artist has employed a rather emphatic smile to pourtray triumph.

It was but natural to suppose that this work was the production of some local genius of the period, and I searched for other evidences of his skill. Not far away I found the next design, very nearly of the same date.

Project Gutenburg : GRAVESTONES OLD AND CURIOUS.

With One Hundred and Two Illustrations  BY W. T. VINCENT

Brick lined Grave



Caister Saint Edmund

© Godric Godricson



Jemma Chapman - d. 26th December 1899

© Godric Godricson

Modern Christian witness

Caister Saint Edmund

© Godric Godricson

Thomas Alderton d.10th April 1767

"To the memory of Thomas, the son of

Thomas and Ann Alderton, who departed

this life the 10th day of April 1767, in the

13th year of his age."

The same artist almost of a certainty produced both of these figurative tombstones. The handicraft is similar, the idea in each is equally daring and grotesque, and the phraseology of the inscriptions is nearly identical. I thought both conceptions original and native to the place, but I do not think so now. In point of taste, the first, which is really second in order of date, is perhaps less questionable than the other. The hope of a joyful resurrection, however rudely displayed, may bring comfort to wounded hearts; but it is difficult to conceive the feelings of bereaved parents who could sanction the representation of a beloved boy, cut off in the brightest hour of life, coffined and skeletoned in the grave!

Above the coffin on Alderton's headstone is an ornament, apparently palms. It is not unusual to find such meaningless, or apparently meaningless, designs employed to fill in otherwise blank spaces, though symbols of death, eternity, and the future state are in plentiful command for such purposes. Something like this same ornament may be found on a very old flat stone in the churchyard of Widcombe, near Bath. It stretches the full width of the stone, and is in high relief, which has preserved it long after the accompanying inscription has vanished. The probable date may be about 1650.

Project Gutenburg : GRAVESTONES OLD AND CURIOUS.

With One Hundred and Two Illustrations  BY W. T. VINCENT

Taphophile in 1896



GRAVESTONES OLD AND CURIOUS
W. T. VINCENT

" This unpretentious work makes no claim to deal with the whole subject which it has presumed to open. Its aim is rather to promote in others the desire which actuates the author to follow up and develop the new field of antiquarian research which it has attempted to introduce. As old Weever says, in his quaint style:—"I have gained as much as I have looke for if I shall draw others into this argument whose inquisitive diligence and learning may finde out more and amende mine."

This book, then, is not a treatise, but simply a first collection of churchyard curiosities, the greater number of which have been gathered within a comparatively small radius. It is only the hoard of one collector and the contents of one sketch-book, all gleaned in about a hundred parishes. Many collectors may multiply by thousands these results, bring out fresh features, and possibly points of high importance.

Two chief purposes therefore animate my desire to publish this work. One is to supply such little information as I have gleaned on a subject which has by some singular chance escaped especial recognition from all the multitude of authors, antiquarians, and literary men. I have searched the Museum libraries, and consulted book-collectors, well-read archaeologists, and others likely to know if there is any work descriptive of old gravestones in existence, and nothing with the remotest relation thereto can I discover There are, of course, hundreds of books of epitaphs, more or less apocryphal, but not one book, apocryphal or otherwise, regarding the allegories of the churchyard. Can it be that the subject is bereft of interest? If so, I have made my venture in vain. But I trust that it is not so.

The second object is to recommend to others a new and delightful hobby, and possibly bring to bear upon my theme an accumulation of knowledge and combination of light. Gravestone hunting implies long walks in rural scenes, with all the expectations, none of the risks, and few of the disappointments of other pursuits. From ten to fifteen miles may be mapped out for a fair day's trudge, and will probably embrace from three to six parish churchyards, allowing time to inspect the church as well as its surroundings. Saturdays are best for these excursions, for then the pew-openers are dusting out the church, and the sexton is usually about, sweeping the paths or cutting the grass. The church door will in most cases be open, and you can get the guidance you want from the best possible sources. A chat with the village sexton is seldom uninviting, and he can generally point out everything worth your observation. But the faculty of finding that of which you are in search  will soon come to you. In the first place, the new portion of a churchyard—there is nearly always a new portion—may be left on one side. You will certainly find no ancient memorials there. In the next place, you may by a little observation pick out the eighteenth-century stones by their shape, which is as a rule much more ornamented and curvilinear than those of later date. They may also be detected very often by the roughness of their backs as well as by their weather-beaten complexions, and with a little experience and practice the student may guess correctly within a few years the age of any particular one seen even in the distance.

To tempt the reader therefore to take up the study which I have found so pleasant, so healthful, and so interesting, I now propose to place in order the proceeds of a few of my rambles, and shew how much success the reader may also expect in similar expeditions. His or her stock-in-trade should consist of a good-sized note-book or sketch-book of paper not too rough for fine lines, a B B pencil of reliable quality, and a small piece of sandstone or brick to be used in rubbing off the dirt and moss which sometimes obscure inscriptions. No kind of scraper should ever be employed, lest the crumbling memorial be damaged; but a bit of brick or soft stone will do no harm, and will often bring to view letters and figures which have apparently quite disappeared. If a camera be taken, a carpenter's pencil may be of service in strengthening half-vanished lines, and a folded foot-rule should always be in the pocket. A mariner's compass is sometimes useful in strange places, but the eastward position of a church will always give the bearings, and a native is usually to be found to point the way.

A road map of the county which you are about to explore, or, if in the vicinity of London, one of those admirable and well-known handbooks of the field paths, is useful, and the journey should be carefully plotted out before the start. A friend and companion of congenial tastes adds, I need not say, to the enjoyment of the excursion. My constant associate has happily a craze for epitaphs, but does not fancy sketching even in the rough style which answers well enough for my work, and I have had therefore no competitor. Together we have scoured all the northern part of Kent and visited every Kentish church within twenty miles of London. The railway also will occasionally land us near some old church which we may like to visit, and it was while waiting half an hour for a train at Blackheath station that I picked up the accompanying choice specimen in the ancient burial-ground of Lee."

Project Gutenburg : GRAVESTONES OLD AND CURIOUS.

With One Hundred and Two Illustrations  BY W. T. VINCENT

Edwin Chadwick - Interview

© Godric Godricson

"The effects of unguarded interments have, however, as will subsequently be noticed, been observed with greater care on the continent, and the proximity of wells to burial-grounds has been reported to be injurious. Thus it is stated in a collection of reports concerning the cemeteries of the town of Versailles, that the water of the wells which lie below the church-yard of St. Louis could not be used on account of its stench.

In consequence of various investigations in France, a law was passed, prohibiting the opening of wells within 100 metres of any place of burial ; but this distance is now stated to be insufficient for deep wells, which have been found on examination to be polluted at a distance of from 150 to 200 metres. In some parts of Germany, the opening of wells nearer than 300 feet has been prohibited.”

From  : PRACTICE OF INTERMENT IN TOWNS EDWIN CHADWICK, (1843) p26  [Link]

Edwin Chadwick - "Practice of Interment in towns"

Detail:
Ashill Parish Church
© Godric Godricson

Edwin Chadwick's report on burials is a seminal work that influenced a generation of people in the area of burials.  He reported on a variety of issues relating to burials and some areas are a little 'icky' by the standards of the early 21st Century. For the next few weeks I want to add some snippet's from Chadwick's work which are illuminating and show how far removed our own views on death are compared to the 19th Century. Here is the first snippet.......

“Some years since a vault was opened in the church-yard (Stepney), and shortly after one of the coffins contained therein burst with so loud a report that hundreds flocked to the place to ascertain the cause. So intense was the poisonous nature of the effluvia arising there from, that a great number were attacked with sudden sickness and  fainting, many of whom were a considerable period before they recovered their health.”

From  : PRACTICE OF INTERMENT IN TOWNS EDWIN CHADWICK, (1843) p15

Isaiah 26:19



The cemetery
A.K.A "The Parish Church"

© Godric Godricson

 "But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead" Isaiah 26:19

There is something that strikes me when I visit an English Church and that is the proximity of the living and the dead. This proximity brings us back to the idea of Christianity being nothing more than a cult of the dead. In prayer, we cast our eyes upwards and we notice the plaques on the wall extolling the virtues of the departed. We notice the arms and titles of the great landowners and we are reminded that this building is often little more than a charnel house for the  rich and famous.

Indeed, if churchgoers  could develop x-ray vision or a personalised ground penetrating radar we would find the floor of any parish Church as a honeycomb of vaults and tombs fashioned from the 14th Century onwards. The vaults, full of humanity, would stretch as far as the eye can see. In this way we sense both the desire for salvation of past generations alongside their fear that God will seek revenge upon them. Regrettably, this mindset of fear and anxiety is not a modern way to design a building or lay out a cemetery.

The parish Church is a very real series of contradictions. On the surface,  the Church is an apparent place of  serenity and prayer and yet, underneath, there is nothing but death and decay. The line quoted above, drawn from Isaiah, is by 21st century standards a truly creepy statement. The quotation is saying something about the Church as being a 'parking lot' for the dead. The parish Church becomes a place where we are laid down like a fine wine awaiting the time when we rise again and 'pop' like a champagne bottle. The parish Church, rather than being a place of serenity, becomes the loci of a death cult where the living focus on nothing but death and dying. Oh dear, this theology of death seems far removed from the account of the Resurrection containing hope and joy. The cult of death is writ large in our society and the parish Church is the heart of the cult situated in most villages.

I am not convinced that the Church has anything very much to offer to a modernising society and the photograph above is a little charitable to the Church. When I visited the parish the Church had children's toys and games in the main areas. The altar had been moved into the main body of the Church from the east end. The children's toys was a sign that this ancient cult of the dead was striving for a sort of modernity and 'applicability'. However, the Church Authorities had missed the point. Rather than being open, inclusive and modern, the parish Church holds onto the  older ties to death whilst trying to support past errors by appearing 'modern'. The parish Church becomes a whited sepulchre rather than a focus for the community.

I understand the English and their sensibilities. The English easily fall down at the feet of 'tradition' and 'power' before they gently and quietly melt away  away to 'do their own thing'. That the Church has lasted so long in English culture is a testimony to the holding power of this cult of the dead. My greatest hope is that the 'cult of the dead' that passes for a state religion is left behind. Let the parish Church become a creche for the one or two children of the village if that is what the community really wants  although think about this......who would have a Creche in a cemetery?