A TYPICAL TRAMP IN KENT.
This unpretentious work makes no claim to deal with the whole subject
which it has presumed to open. Its aim is rather to promote in others
the desire which actuates the author to follow up and develop the new
field of antiquarian research which it has attempted to introduce.
As old Weever says, in his quaint style:--"I have gained as much as
I have looke for if I shall draw others into this argument whose
inquisitive diligence and learning may finde out more and amende
mine."
This book, then, is not a treatise, but simply a first collection of
churchyard curiosities, the greater number of which have been gathered
within a comparatively small radius. It is only the hoard of one
collector and the contents of one sketch-book, all gleaned in about
a hundred parishes. Many collectors may multiply by thousands these
results, bring out fresh features, and possibly points of high
importance.
Two chief purposes therefore animate my desire to publish this work.
One is to supply such little information as I have gleaned on a
subject which has by some singular chance escaped especial recognition
from all the multitude of authors, antiquarians, and literary men.
I have searched the Museum libraries, and consulted book-collectors,
well-read archaeologists, and others likely to know if there is any
work descriptive of old gravestones in existence, and nothing with
the remotest relation thereto can I discover.[1] There are, of course,
hundreds of books of epitaphs, more or less apocryphal, but not
one book, apocryphal or otherwise, regarding the allegories of the
churchyard. Can it be that the subject is bereft of interest? If so, I
have made my venture in vain. But I trust that it is not so.
[Footnote 1: The Rev. Charles Boutell published, in 1849, parts 1 and
2 of a periodical work entitled "Christian Monuments in England and
Wales," proposing to complete the same in five sections; the fifth to
treat of headstones and other churchyard memorials, with some general
observations on modern monuments. The two parts brought the
subject down to the fifteenth century, and were so ably written and
beautifully illustrated as to intensify our regret at the incompletion
of the task.]
The second object is to recommend to others a new and delightful
hobby, and possibly bring to bear upon my theme an accumulation of
knowledge and combination of light. Gravestone hunting implies long
walks in rural scenes, with all the expectations, none of the risks,
and few of the disappointments of other pursuits. From ten to fifteen
miles may be mapped out for a fair day's trudge, and will probably
embrace from three to six parish churchyards, allowing time to inspect
the church as well as its surroundings. Saturdays are best for these
excursions, for then the pew-openers are dusting out the church, and
the sexton is usually about, sweeping the paths or cutting the grass.
The church door will in most cases be open, and you can get the
guidance you want from the best possible sources. A chat with the
village sexton is seldom uninviting, and he can generally point out
everything worth your observation. But the faculty of finding that of
which you are in search will soon come to you. In the first place, the
new portion of a churchyard--there is nearly always a new portion--may
be left on one side. You will certainly find no ancient memorials
there. In the next place, you may by a little observation pick out the
eighteenth-century stones by their shape, which is as a rule much more
ornamented and curvilinear than those of later date. They may also
be detected very often by the roughness of their backs as well as by
their weather-beaten complexions, and with a little experience and
practice the student may guess correctly within a few years the age of
any particular one seen even in the distance.
[Illustration: FIG. 62. GEEENFORD.]
[Illustration: FIG. 63. WEST HAM.]
To tempt the reader therefore to take up the study which I have found
so pleasant, so healthful, and so interesting, I now propose to
place in order the proceeds of a few of my rambles, and shew how much
success the reader may also expect in similar expeditions. His or her
stock-in-trade should consist of a good-sized note-book or sketch-book
of paper not too rough for fine lines, a B B pencil of reliable
quality, and a small piece of sandstone or brick to be used in rubbing
off the dirt and moss which sometimes obscure inscriptions. No kind
of scraper should ever be employed, lest the crumbling memorial be
damaged; but a bit of brick or soft stone will do no harm, and will
often bring to view letters and figures which have apparently quite
disappeared. If a camera be taken, a carpenter's pencil may be of
service in strengthening half-vanished lines, and a folded foot-rule
should always be in the pocket. A mariner's compass is sometimes
useful in strange places, but the eastward position of a church will
always give the bearings, and a native is usually to be found to point
the way. A road map of the county which you are about to explore, or,
if in the vicinity of London, one of those admirable and well-known
handbooks of the field paths, is useful, and the journey should be
carefully plotted out before the start. A friend and companion
of congenial tastes adds, I need not say, to the enjoyment of the
excursion. My constant associate has happily a craze for epitaphs, but
does not fancy sketching even in the rough style which answers well
enough for my work, and I have had therefore no competitor. Together
we have scoured all the northern part of Kent and visited every
Kentish church within twenty miles of London. The railway also will
occasionally land us near some old church which we may like to visit,
and it was while waiting half an hour for a train at Blackheath
station that I picked up the accompanying choice specimen in the
ancient burial-ground of Lee.
FIG. 64.--AT LEE.
"To Eliza Drayton, died 11th May, 1770."
In this allegory Time appears to be commanding Death to extinguish the
lamp of Life. The sun may mean the brighter life beyond. The building
to the right is an enigma.
Often the first six or seven miles have to be encountered before we
reach unexplored ground. The Cray Valley, for instance, may be cited
for one day's experience. First a walk of seven miles to Orpington,
one of the five sister churches of the Crays--all said to be
Anglo-Saxon and of about one date. I must not digress to speak of
churches, but it is only reasonable to suppose that the student who is
capable of taking up as a pastime the investigation of churchyards has
previously acquired something more or less of archaeological taste,
and will not fail to notice the churches.[2] We reach the churchyard
of Orpington, visit the church, and then my companion and I separate
for our respective duties. I am not fortunate in securing any special
prize, but it is well to select some object if only as a souvenir of
the visit, and I jot down the following, which may be classed among
the commonest order of all figurative headstones, but is nevertheless
noticeable as a variant.
[Footnote 2: There are several handbooks of church architecture, and the
rudiments of the various orders and dates are easily acquired.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64. LEE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 65. ORPINGTON.]
FIG. 65.--AT ORPINGTON, KENT.
"To Hosa Mansfield, daughter of John and
Martha Mansfield, died 24th May 1710,
aged 26 years. Also James Mansfield,
son of John and Martha Mansfield, died
30th Dec'r 1746, aged 48 years."
The work in this instance is crude, and apparently done by an inexpert
craftsman. The stone is, however, decayed, and it is possible that
it is the draughtsman who has blundered. The two skulls, being of
different sizes, suggest the male and female occupants of the grave,
and would therefore assign the production to the later rather than
the earlier date. The two bones are not often found in so lateral
a position, and the vampire wings are clumsy in the extreme. I have
collected varieties of the skull and crossbone character in many
places, and seen the eccentricities of many masons in the way of
wings, but have met with very few so far astray as these. While I am
engaged in transferring the specimen to my book, our epitaph hunter
has been round and discovered a treasure. I shall not trouble the
reader with him henceforth, but I may note just this one of his
successes as a sample of the rewards which attend his part in the
pilgrimage. He has found a stone thus inscribed:
"Here lyeth the body of Mary, the wife of
John Smith: she died March 17th, 1755,
aged 58 years.
"Here lyeth Mary, never was contrary
To me nor her neighbours around her;
Like Turtle and Dove we lived in love,
And I left her where I may find her.
"Also John Smith, husband of the above."
(Date sunk underground.)
A short walk through the village and by the Cray River brings us to
the church of St. Mary Cray, where I secure a new species, in which
Death is doubly symbolized by the not infrequent scythe and possibly
also by the pierced heart. The latter might refer to the bereaved
survivor, but, being a-flame, seems to lend itself more feasibly to
the idea of the immortal soul. The trumpet and the opening coffin
indicate peradventure the resurrection.
FIG. 66.--AT ST. MARY CRAY.
"To Thomas Abbott, died May 21, 1773, aged
75 years."
[Illustration: FIG. 66. ST. MARY CRAY.]
[Illustration: FIG. 67. ST. PAUL'S CRAY.]
Only a short distance farther, for the churches are small, we reach
St. Paul's Cray, the burial-ground of which shews that the foregoing
allegory was immediately duplicated, apparently by another hand, with
just a little variation to redeem the piracy. The coffin is quite
opened and empty, instead of being slightly open and tenanted, which
is almost the only difference between the May and the September work.
FIG. 67.--AT ST. PAUL'S CRAY.
"To John Busbey, died 1st Sept'r 1773, aged
70 years."
Foot's Cray is a good long step beyond and does not yield much profit,
but I select the most novel specimen, which is a combination
of ordinary emblems, with little attempt at symmetry, or even
arrangement, other than the awkward juxtaposition of the cherubins'
inner wings.
FIG. 68.--AT FOOT'S CRAY.
"To Elizabeth Wood, died February 8, 1735-6,
aged 58 years."
The churchyard at North Cray added nothing at all to my collection.
This was the only blank drawn that day, but a beautifully kept ground
surrounding a delightful church well repaid the visit. A call at Old
Bexley Church completed the day's work, and gave me one of the few
sketches belonging to the nineteenth century which I have made.
FIG. 69.--AT OLD BEXLEY.
"To Susannah, wife of Henry Humphrey,
died 26th December 1805, aged 57 years."
The anchor stands for Hope, the draped urn signifies mourning for the
dead, and the figure reading the Holy Book suggests consolation. From
Bexley Church to the railway station was but a brief space. The day's
tramp was ended.
[Illustration: FIG. 68. FOOT'S CRAY.]
[Illustration: FIG. 69. BEXLEY.]