Cemeteries and churchyards can provide information about the history and makeup of communities. The development of gravestones over time shows changes in styles, materials, and imagery that reflected cultural and religious changes. Careful recording of gravestone inscriptions, locations, images, and materials can reveal details about individuals as well as the social statuses and occupations of community members. Modern cemetery surveys help preserve this historical information for future study.

1. Cemeteries
Urban Archaeology
Session 9

2. How did the grave develop?
Kevin Hale, geograph.org.uk

3. The Development of the Grave
• Following the Reformation headstones
became more popular but were still the
preserve of the wealthy.
• They increase in popularity until they become
almost ubiquitous during the 19th century.

4. Significance of Cemetery
• Churchyards dominate from 8th Century AD until
1850s
• 1820s – Beginning of private cemeteries
(business ventures)
• 1830-40s and more in the 1850s – Public
cemeteries (Roman model of town outskirts)
• What can cemeteries or churchyards tell us?
– Nature of a community
– Changes in a community
– Individuals in a community

5. The Cemetery
• English Heritage definition:
– Churchyards: a burial ground around a church or other
– place of worship
– Burial grounds: a pre-Victorian place of burial without a
– place of worship
– Cemeteries: a landscaped place of burial
• See also the Cemetery Research Group’s definition
http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/crg/cemeterydef.htm
• 1650s+ - NonConformist grounds founded, followed by Quaker and
Jewish
• In 2006, the Ministry of Justice Burial Grounds Survey found just
under 10,000 burial grounds
http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/previous-stats/burial-grounds-
survey

6. Whole Community
Locations of graves in churchyards tell us about the
social status of the individual:
• Church internment (and the closer to main altar
the better) or in private chapel/crypts – wealthy /
political significance
• Eastern side of churchyard – higher classes
• Southern side – lesser status
• Northern corner – unbaptized, suicide,
excommunicated

8. Headstone styles
• 17th Century, personal inscriptions begin
• 18th Century, higher status individuals being
being buried outside of the church, so from
here onwards, more elaborate memorials exist

9. 17th Century
(Left) © Copyright Walter Baxter

10. 18th Century
Wikipedia.com

11. 19th Century

12. 20th Century

13. 17th Century 18th Century 19th Century 20th Century
All about mortality. Imagery remains Fewer skulls! Explosion of images
Skulls, hour glasses, similar. Symbols of influenced by rapid
bones, turf cutters, salvation and stylistic change.
winged faces. afterlife. Anchors,
Occupational Urns and Crosses
Symbols are very Common
Often smaller, Stones become Symmetrical Range of shapes
simpler geometric taller and more shapes. Stones in styles and
forms regular shapes rows. New materials. 19th
materials: iron, century influence
concrete. persists.
Distinctive irregular Irregular ‘block Precise italic or Range of fonts.
lettering. Bound capital’ lettering capital letters. Lettering is often
letters. Archaic remains common. Modern fonts. applied to surface
spelling. Also fine italic in metal.
script.

14. Headstone materials
• Stone
– Limestone
– Sandstone
– Marble
– Slate
– Granite
• Metal
– Iron
– Bronze
– Lead
• Wood
• Terracotta
• Reconstituted stone

15. Which headstones have survived?
• Most headstones will date from post 1600
• Earlier wooden memorials have perished
• Some older stone have been removed

16. What is the headstone?
• Archaeological Artefact
– Form and function
• Historical Document
– Often replaces paper records

17. Headstone types
• Marker stones
– And head and foot of grave. Name and date.
• Headstones
– Inscription, and motif. Sometimes kerbstones. Set in ground. C19th onwards,
concrete foundations.
• Ledger slabs
– Inscribed. Body underneath. Loor markers inside, outside are level with
ground. Coped stone / bodystone similar but curved and raised.
• Tomb chests
– Rectangular monuments, with top slab. Usually hollow, with metal cramps.
• Pedestal tombs
– Similar to tomb chests but have legs/columns under the slab.
• Allegorical sculpture
– Crosses, obelisks, etc. Victorian era sees figures such as angels and mourners.
• Graveboards
– Wooden panels with inscription

18. Reading a headstone
Information:
• Name
• Date of birth and death
Additional information:
• Occupation
• Family links
• Nature of death
• Beliefs & Actions in Life

19. Community
history from
headstones
• We can tell a lot
about the makeup of
a community from
headstones.
• This is an example of
symbols relating to
trades commonly
found on 19-20th
century headstones
in the UK.
T.Asquith-Lamb from CSA, Introduction to Grave
Recording, www.scottishgraveyards.org.uk

20. Beliefs
• There are numerous indexes available online,
some more accurate than others.
• The Church Monuments Society has a
comprehensive glossary of 20th century
symbols:
http://www.churchmonumentssociety.org/Sy
mbolism_on_Monuments.html

21. Memorials
Left to right: Wikipedia.com; geograph.org.uk

22. Locating headstones
• Local society website
• Sometimes plot numbers from Parish registers
• Nearly always plot numbers from Cemetery
registers

23. Mapping headstones
• Log using a handheld GPS device
• Or register using a National Grid Reference
– Use a 1:25000 scale Ordnance Survey map
– Needs to be AT LEAST
6 figures
– The first part of
this NGR will be TR
– The second part
will be 975 and 583
Portable Antiquities Scheme website – ‘Getting grid references’, www.finds.org.uk/guide/torecording/gridreferences

24. Mapping headstones
• Or get a NGR online (see www.finds.org.uk for
instructions to use these websites):
– Magic - http://www.magic.gov.uk (although this might
change following Government reorganisations).
– Wheresthepath -
http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm (OS
and web mapping services side by side, brilliant!)
– Streetmap - http://www.streetmap.co.uk/
– Nearby.org.uk - http://www.nearby.org.uk/ (great for
co-ordinate conversions etc)

25. Cemetery Plans
• You may wish to
record a
headstone’s
location using an
existing plot plan
Southampton Old Cemetery Plan of Plots, from www.southampton.gov.uk

26. Recording headstones
Check first at:
• Gravestone Photographic Resource -
http://www.gravestonephotos.com/index.php
• Local society website
• Local authority website – e.g.
http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/our-
community/cemeteries-in-eastleigh/cemetery-
database.aspx
Use a standard recording sheet:
• Council for Scottish Archaeology example -
http://www.scottishgraveyards.org.uk/downloads/10G
BasicForm.pdf

27. Enhance the Record!
• Draw the headstone/s
• Photograph the headstone/s
• Photogrammetry on headstone/s
• Reflectance Transformation Imaging on
headstone/s