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Thread: Merseyside Cemetery Art

  1. #1
    Local Historian Cadfael's Avatar
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    Default Merseyside Cemetery Art

    Uncle has come down for the weekend to Liverpool. Was brought up in Woolton so know's the area well. He wanted to take a trip to St Mary's Hale as he was pointed to a gravestone nearly 50 years ago and had a nagging thought to convince himself whether it was true or not.

    Had a good nose around as we were looking for a grave with a Skull and Crossbones on and eventually found it!

    Lots of the information is worn away but we've come up with a name of John Hitchmough although we couldn't come across any other information.

    Does anyone know the significance of the Skull and Crossbones on a grave like this and does anyone know of another one?




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    tattooed gt-grandma quincyg's Avatar
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    how fascinating, I notice there's a heart on it too. was he poisoned perhaps?
    Proud Scouser, with a dabbling of Welsh and Irish.

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    Senior Member brian daley's Avatar
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    Default Skull and Crossbones

    This is usually the emblem that adorns the burial place of a Knights Templar,nothing to do with pirates and buccaneers,but from the peculiar manner of their burial. They were buried in sepulchres "from the centre 3feet east,3feet west,3 feet between the north and south,5 feet or more perpendicular." The lower legs were removed and crossed behind the skull. The same insignia was used on the flag of Templar ships and was called the Piebald,known to later generations as the Jolly Roger. Knights Templar still exist,ask at your local Provincial Grand Lodge.
    So mote it be
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    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
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    St. Michaels Garston:



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    tattooed gt-grandma quincyg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev View Post
    St. Michaels Garston:

    the water in the carving really makes it stand out. I don't normally wander around graveyards, perhaps I should start.
    Proud Scouser, with a dabbling of Welsh and Irish.

    bore yourself silly at my Flickr page...anorak central!

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    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
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    Be very careful, I nearly lost a foot down an unknown crevase!
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    Local Historian Cadfael's Avatar
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    Bah, you try and come up with a strange grave and then they're like buses

    Graveyards are amazing places for a, a bit of quiet, and b, to go back in time.

    I've been brought up on em due to my interest in churches and being in many a church choir, they were excellent for 'off ground tick'!

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    Senior Member macateb's Avatar
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    Just guessing, but perhaps its a warning that the person inside died from the plague. ie danger, don't open.

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    tattooed gt-grandma quincyg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev View Post
    Be very careful, I nearly lost a foot down an unknown crevase!
    what you do in your private time is your business!!!

    I went around Church Gardens today. that's quite open and there were people about. I'm often wary of cemeterys.

    I don't want to bump into
    Proud Scouser, with a dabbling of Welsh and Irish.

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    Heeeeheeee!
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    Senior Member shoney's Avatar
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    maybe anoerexia is not a new thing

  12. #12
    Chris48
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    This grave is on the right as you use the side entrance to the church. I noticed it last year on the day of my mothers funeral who's ashes are buried at Hale Church. I asked the same question and the consensus from my elderly relatives where that the person buried would have been a victim of the plague. I have seen another similar one at Bamburgh church in the North East where Grace Darling is buried. But they were also used on stones of men who had been freemasons apparently.
    Last edited by Chris48; 04-05-2008 at 11:57 AM.

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    Local Historian Cadfael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris48 View Post
    This grave is on the right as you use the side entrance to the church. I noticed it last year on the day of my mothers funeral who's ashes are buried at Hale Church. I asked the same question and the consensus from my elderly relatives where that the person buried would have been a victim of the plague. I have seen another similar one at Bamburgh church in the North East where Grace Darling is buried.
    I'm no historian on the Plague so what era are we talking about? My only reason for questioning is that while I can't read the date on the graves, it is grouped around other graves which are from the 1830-1860's era.

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    Senior Member sweetcheeks's Avatar
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    Just looked this up and found

    One meaning suggests the skull and crossbones represents the mortality of man. It can also mean death and resurrection, apparently. To show we all will die. Happy happy!

    Another theory is it has connections to the Free Masons or a local regiment some addopted this sign.

    Not sure any are true but is makes interesting reading.
    Last edited by sweetcheeks; 04-05-2008 at 12:04 PM.
    To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.

  15. #15
    Chris48
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    Quote Originally Posted by sweetcheeks View Post
    Just looked this up and found

    One meaning suggests the skull and crossbones represents the mortality of man. It can also mean death and resurrection, apparently. To show we all will die. Happy happy!

    Another theory is it has connections to the Free Masons or a local regiment some addopted this sign.

    Not sure any are true but is makes interesting reading.
    Yes, another theory is that it is to remind us of mans mortality.

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