skull carvings

Seen in St Oswald's Church, Ashbourne. It is very awkward to see / get to so I have turned the image upside-down to make it clearer.

One of the piers into the churchyard of St Oswald's, Ashbourne.

Detail of one of the piers into the churchyard of St Oswald's, Ashbourne.

A pretty bad photo of the monument to Thomas and George Hyde. This monument is in the church of St John the Baptist, Aldbury, and dates to 1570/1580. I visited with the Church Monuments Society, and need to return with a tripod, shift lens / large format camera and time. I can easily while away half a day photographing a church.

Detail from a tombstone leaning-up against the north wall of the church in Cottered. It is quite an early churchyard monument and I wonder how it came to be there.

This tombstone is leaning-up against the north wall of the church in Cottered. It is quite an early churchyard monument and I wonder how it came to be there.

One of the gravestones in Little Munden churchyard showing a skull and crossbones, hourglass, torch and a trumpet, all signs of mortality.

My daily walk took me through the churchyard of St Helen's, Wheathampstead, where the sun was perfect for photographing this tombstone near the south porch. There is another stone I have my eye on but a pesky tree blocks the light. Where's my chainsaw... Pentax K-3, SMC Pentax-FA 31mm Ltd lens.

My daily walk took me through the churchyard of St Helen's, Wheathampstead, where the sun was perfect for photographing this tombstone near the south porch. There is another stone I have my eye on but a pesky tree blocks the light. Where's my chainsaw... Pentax K-3, SMC Pentax-FA 31mm Ltd lens. Postscript. This is the tomb of Nicholas Coningsbye recorded as having been buried in January 1738 in the parish registry. The volume of Hertfordshire Monumental Inscriptions for Wheathampstead records nothing about this stone but parts of the text are clearly legible including the name.

Detail from a monument in the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, Peterborough. The monument is to Thomas Deacon. It has a long and fulsome inscription including the wonderful line "He had an ample Estate which he fairly acquired..." Makes one wonder how other people acquired their estates! The school trust he created in his will still exists today as the Thomas Deacon Foundation. He died on the 19th August 1721 aged 70.

Unfortunately, I did not note down who this monument is to.

This monument comes from the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, Peterborough. The monument is to Thomas Deacon. It has a long and fulsome inscription including the wonderful line "He had an ample Estate which he fairly acquired..." Makes one wonder how other people acquired their estates! The school trust he created in his will still exists today as the Thomas Deacon Foundation. He died on the 19th August 1721 aged 70.

From the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul's, Northleach. I spotted this tomb when visiting the church as part of a Welwyn Archaeological Society coach outing in April 2005.

A detail of the design of Elizabeth Adams' tombstone Pentax SV, Auto Takumar 55/1.8, Ilford Delta 100, commercial dev and scan tweaked in Lightroom 1.4.

This is Elisabeth Pepys (1640 - 1669) monument in St Olave's Church, London. I took this photo during the lunch break of a meeting of the Church Monuments Society in 2018. Elisabeth married Samuel Pepys when she was just 15, and died when she was 29 of typhoid. Almost everything we know about her is from Pepys' diaries. Despite his regular philandering, including with Elisabeth's maids, he does seem to have genuinely cared for her.

Detail of the design on one of the tombstones to the Osland family in the churchyard of St Mary and St Thomas, Knebworth. The tombstone dates to 1678. Pentax Q-S1, 02 zoom.

One of the tombstones to the Osland family in the churchyard of St Mary and St Thomas, Knebworth. The tombstone dates to 1678. Pentax Q-S1, 02 zoom.