Mark Hatton

Both of these headstones were lifted & moved many years ago & now lean against the same churchyard wall. The carved face of one looks at the wall, whilst the other looks outwards. As a result these faces have very different exposure to sun & rain, with very different consequences

I knew I needed to remember something …… but what was it ? Don’t forget the time, remember to get your haircut, resit the anatomy course ……. ahhhh, it’s killing me.

Do we have any Latin Scholars here who can translate this inscription ?

@flipdrivel Yes, this shows the soul of the deceased ascending to heaven. So stonemasons will often try to portray them as faithfully as they can.

@TheHatton Is that the face of the deceased with the wings? Is it likely to be lifelike or just standard issue?

Some headstones have the power to draw you back for another look. To soak up their meaning, artistry & beauty. To cause you to ponder on the people, period & place that created these sermons in stone. For sure this is just such a stone. Mortality & Resurrection personified.

@Barb_Drummond The neck wear does look a bit cleric like, but do they have 12 pairs of buttons up the front ? No mention of a cleric role on the inscription.

@TheHatton Cleric?

Henry Whitaker died in 1708. Is he shown on his gravestone wrapped up tight in a mort cloth ? Or is it just an armless shirt ?

What’s happening here ? The deceased is shown naked, clutching a skull & a bone. Meanwhile a pair of Angels place a crown on his head. This is the moment that the Crown of Everlasting Life is awarded to a good Christian, ensuring they have a new and blissful life in Heaven.

The triumph of the Soul. The soul is free to ascend - youthful, healthy & with a full head of hair (I miss my hair ;o) The mortal remains are bound to the earth where they could apply for a role as a physiotherapist’s model skeleton.

The soul of the deceased emerges from behind the shroud, with wings attached, ready to ascend to heaven. They are naked, to shown they are reborn. These resurrection scenes must have been of great comfort to the family and reassuring to everybody else.

I didn’t expect this one. I gently lifted away the moss to be presented with a Serpent coiled around the decaying bones of the deceased, whilst holding out towards me the forbidden fruit. I am being tempted to sin here, the consequences of which brings death to all mankind.

Apparently the locals had very long arms with huge hands, big feet and broad shoulders. At least that’s what the Stonemason was told.

This Skull 💀 is meant to remind us of the inevitability of Death, which may arrive swiftly at an unexpected moment. Any jocularity, amusement or suggestions the skull has Elephant ears was entirely unintentional.

The family were Millers. The mill rind is shown bottom left. This was the metal component used to support and turn the millstones. It becomes the emblem of Millers and is often depicted on the family gravestone.

This gravestone shows us what this family did for a living. Can you see what it was ?

@sue_wilkinson @RathboneKeswick @rfj1966 @Sunnysidegh @JohnGal_luvlife @BrookinKath @keswickbootco @dash_beck2 @PeterLazzari1 @AndrewJ3759 @martin_s_wood @magsLancashire Happy to repeat the talk if you can find a venue and get a few folk to come along.

@RathboneKeswick @rfj1966 @Sunnysidegh @JohnGal_luvlife @BrookinKath @keswickbootco @dash_beck2 @PeterLazzari1 @AndrewJ3759 @martin_s_wood @magsLancashire Would love to have been able to get to that talk. Hope Mark repeats it sometime soon! @TheHatton

An afternoon walk up Newlands to visit some of the old mine sites and my dad’s former home. Inspired by the thought of going to tonight’s talk at Keswick School on ‘The German Miners in Elizabethan Keswick.’ Off now to catch the talk at 7.30pm; have a good evening. 👍

For 350 years this tiny gravestone has been standing as a stark reminder that we should all prepare for Death. I can’t help but think that it is winking at us though, so perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye ;o)

A skeleton & 6 skulls, flanked by trumpet blowing Angels, one holds a book the other a burial shroud. We are being shown the moment when the shroud has been lifted from the corpse and the Book records if the deceased is one of the elect, destined for heaven. A soul ascends above.

Maybe modelled on a Bucranium

The symbolism on 18th century gravestones is a source of much interest, bemusement & joy. Sometimes the intended meaning is clear, other times not so much. Here, well, your guess is as good as mine ……..