The Hardy Tree is a centuries-old ash tree surrounded by a radiating circle of densely-packed headstones. But why was it created?
The Hardy Tree
Category: Graves
The Car Park Grave of Mary Ellis
Beneath the tarmac of Loews Theater car park in New Brunswick lie the remains of Mary Ellis. For the last 193 years, she has occupied a prime parking spot; a strange conclusion to a romantic and tragic life.
The Weirdest Epitaph in America: Sterling Hallard Bright Drake
"‘An idealist and a dreamer, he died of loneliness and a broken heart, searching for a shrine he never found."
The Russian Gangster Cemetery
Russia's gangsters were never going to settle for a subtle headstone and floral border.
Big Surprises and Bigger Vaults at Laceby Cemetery
A village on the outskirts of Grimsby isn’t exactly the typical location for an enormous Norwegian funerary monument.
The Fertile Grave of Victor Noir
The frankly massive bulge in Noir’s trousers made his memorial a popular destination for women visiting Père Lachaise for over a century...
The Tiny Grave of Tom Thumb
According to local legend, the Tom Thumb of Tattershall measured just over 18 inches tall and had reached the grand old age of 101 upon his death in 1620.
The Lion Tombstones of Iran
Known as šir-e sangi in Persian or bardšir in Bakhtiari, the ‘stone lions’ are memorials formed in a simple shape, marking the graves of regional nomads such as the Bakhtiari, Lor, and Qašqā’i.
The Mosaic Grave of Rudolf Nureyev
Representative of the dancer’s ‘nomadic life,' Nureyev's Kilim rug is a phenomenal memorial to his talent.
William Mackenzie’s Liverpool Pyramid
The idea of a hunched poker-playing corpse inside a pyramid has a undeniable more public appeal.
Burials & Beyond 