Impressed villagers buy old lady...a grave

Living to be 119 years old is a pretty outstanding thing to do - especially in the eighteenth century. Mary Brookes' fellow villagers in Horton (near Leek) seem to have been so astounded by this feat that they all clubbed together to buy this gravestone for her - "at their own expense to perpetuate this remarkable instance of longevity" - as is inscribed on the stone's face.

I suppose it was rather clever of her, at that.

This post was featured on the Cemetery Sunday website

For sale - only £2million pounds...

This grand old Jacobean mansion, Horton Hall, was recently up for sale for almost £2million.  It's in a nice spot, rather remote, so I considered buying it.
Unfortunately, I do not have £2million.

The storms that have been criss-crossing the south of England, and bits of Scotland, have not really affected Staffordshire; and the mild (well, mild for December) temperatures continue.  It is not predictable however, whether it will be a case of frosty blue skies and damp & grey ones.
Today was clear-blue.

Schoolboy remembered

What sad story does this grave tell? 
It is unusual to see a portrait on a gravestone in England, yet here is thirteen year old Edward Baddeley portrayed, and dressed in his schoolboy cap.
One can only imagine his grieving parents wanting to see their child fully remembered.

Of the little the grave inscription tells us, the only other telling fact is that young Arthur died at nearby Rudyard in June 1900. 

This grave is to be found at St Michael & All Angels Church, Horton.


This post was featured on the Cemetery Sunday website 

Time's death-struggle

In this tombstone carving you see a winged figure (Time) hovering over a corpse/skeleton, and both appear to be clasping an arrow. It's clearly a struggle of some sort.
Fellow blogger Beneath Thy Feet explained the significance of it to me as Time arrriving to claim his due at the moment of the person's death.  The arrow I guess represents the inevitable trajectory of existence - towards death.
The superscript motto reads: Time and Death shal be no more

So far I've found two of these type of carvings in Staffordshire: one in Audley churchyard, and this one, which is in Horton churchyard.

Taking a photo from the left side of the same carving more clearly shows the woman praying (she who is to become the skeleton I suppose), an hourglass, and, erm... three shapes whose significance I don't know!  If you know what these three shapes represent, I'd be very happy to hear...



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Poet surrounded by weeds

George Heath's gravestone stands, surrounded by weeds, in a lonely country churchyard near Leek.  Pretty much unknown now, he was in fact pretty much unknown then - even though this is 'The Moorland Poet' as he was called locally. George Heath died 150 years ago, at just 25 years old.

His poetry is a bit post-Wordsworth:
"Slow creeps the light athwart the concave still,
Steals a low whisper on the breathless calm,
Bringing the scent of opening flowers, a balm;
Breaks o'er the earth a grand, a rapturous thrill"   but, like in these lines, not bad either.

He's buried in Horton churchyard, which is a bit ironic, as he first caught the chill which led to his fatal consumption while restoring the old church there...

What's odd though is that there is no sign or pointer to his grave. Admittedly, he was not a Top Poet, but Staffordshire Archives feel that he is important enough to have recently published a guide to their collection of his works, so you wonder why there is no real attention paid to the grave.

Link: Guide to Staffordshire George Heath collection 

This post was featured on the Cemetery Sunday website