William the Conqueror (1028-1087)

The evidence for William the Conqueror's death are contained in the nearly contemporary De Obitu Willelmi by an anonymous monk of Caen, where the king was actually buried, and the later Historia Ecclesiastica of Orderi Vitalis written approximately sixty-five years later.

William  "who was very corpulent, fell ill from exhaustion and heat" and died of a burst bowel at age 59. While jumping a trench on horseback, his stomach was forced onto the pommel of his sword.

There is little dignity in death, even for Kings and in the funeral service we hear that "the swollen bowels burst, and an intolerable stench assailed the nostrils of the by-standers and the whole crowd."

For William, even the frankincense and spices of the censers was not enough to mask the smell, and the rites were hurriedly concluded in an effort to move away.

See Find a Grave

Lost burial grounds - Hunstanton

The Lighthouse
Hunstanton

© Godric Godricson

Hunstanton is one of those Norfolk towns that defies close description. "It is, what it is" and that’s an end to it.

I like Hunstanton and that means the residential ‘older’ Hunstanton and the more ‘seaside resort’ of New Hunstanton. In summer, people walk around the town in flip flops and summer hats and the place has a ‘kiss me kwik’ atmosphere. Having talked about the seaside atmosphere, the fish and chips aren’t that great for a seaside resort. British people (and many Commonwealth cousins around the world) understand that fish and chips are a vital part of a visit to the seaside and the social standing of a town can rise and fall depending on the perceived quality of the food.

I have an aversion to one or two fish and chip establishments in Hunstanton. They have a mightily high opinion of their products to the point where they don’t give much attention to service. There we have it and back to the purpose of this posting!



Heavily conserved wall
Saint Edmund's Church

© Godric Godricson

 The town has its own history and (like of lot of Norfolk) the history is extensive although not always easily accessible to the public on the internet. One wonders what the parish/town and district Council are  doing to publicise the services that the town has to offer as they take the locally raised Council Tax. The ancient Church of Saint Edmund [1] [2] stands on the ciff top and must be the centre of an ancient Saxon Cemetery although the present building is probably Norman in origin. The main body of the Church exisits as a low wall in addition to the small replacement altar at the East End. This is a marvellous survival and we can only wonder what is looked like from the sea as it stood on the cliff.

Edwin Chadwick - Interviews (1843)

Detail: Ashill
Parish Church

The following testimony of a lady, respecting the miasma which escaped from one burial-ground at Manchester, is adduced as an example of the more specific testimony as to the perception of its effects. This testimony also brings to view the circumstance that in the towns it is not only in surface emanations from the grave-yards alone that the morbific matter escapes.

You resided formerly in the house immediately contiguous to the burying-ground of chapel, did you not ?

Yes I did, but I was obliged to leave it.

Why were. you so obliged?

When the wind was west, the smell was dreadful. There is a main sewer runs through the burying-ground, and the smell of the dead bodies came through this sewer up our drain, and until we got that trapped, it was quite unbearable.

Do you not think the smell arose from the emanations of the sewer, and not from the burying-ground?

I am sure they came from the burying ground; the smell coming from the drain was exactly the same as that which reached us when the wind was west, and blew upon us from the burying-ground. The smell was very peculiar ; it exactly resembled the smell which clothes have when they are removed from a dead body. My servants would not remain in the house on account of it, and I had several cooks who removed on this account.

Did you observe any effects on your health when the smells were bad ?

Yes, I am liable to head-aches, and these were always bad when the smells were so also. They were often accompanied by diarrhrea in this house. Before I went there, and since I left, my head-aches have been very trifling.

Were any of the other inmates of the house afflicted with illness ?

I had often to send for the surgeon to my servants, who were liable to ulcerated sore throats.

And your children, were they also affected ?

My youngest child was very delicate, and we thought he could not have survived; since he came here he has become quite strong and healthy, but I have no right to say the burying-ground had any connexion with his health.

From  : PRACTICE OF INTERMENT IN TOWNS EDWIN CHADWICK, (1843) p24 [Link]

Valletta basement was burial ground

"Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar this evening produced pictures of human bones found beneath Valletta's Casa Lanfreducci, backing its claim that this had been a burial ground and should not be converted into changing rooms for the new open theatre on the Opera House site". 

Follow this link for the full story from "The Times of Malta"

Grab für Deutschen Soldaten



Photo : James Allan



Es gibt viele Gräber in Norfolk für Soldaten, die im zweiten Weltkrieg starben.  Jedoch, gibt es Gräber für deutsche Soldaten und einige Gräber sind im Dorf von Scottow. Dieses ist ein kleines Dorf auf der Hauptstraße von Norwich zum Norden.

Ich habe Informationen auf Denkmälern innerhalb der Kirchen für Englische Soldaten auf anderen Seiten zur Verfügung gestellt