Category: Graves
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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.”
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The Russian Gangster Cemetery
Russia’s gangsters were never going to settle for a subtle headstone and floral border.
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The Mosaic Grave of Rudolf Nureyev
Representative of the dancer’s ‘nomadic life,’ Nureyev’s Kilim rug is a phenomenal memorial to his talent.
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William Mackenzie’s Liverpool Pyramid
The idea of a hunched poker-playing corpse inside a pyramid has a undeniable more public appeal.
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Avast! Here be a Pirate Cemetery
Sainte-Marie was was a haven for pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. Swashbucklers had to be buried somewhere…
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“I decided to hide Charlie Chaplin’s body and solve my problems…”
On 12th December 1978, Roman Wardas, a 24-year old Polish refugee took to the stand in Switzerland, accused of stealing Chaplin’s body.
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Andrew Hyslop; Covenanter, Martyr.
One postcard lead to a story of a murdered covenanter who ended his days in a field in Dumfriesshire
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Kim Cattrall: The Unwelcome Cleopatra
What, so you thought I couldn’t link Sex and the City with bizarre grave controversies? Bet your finest patent heels I can.
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The Curious World of Dollhouse Graves
Sitting like miniature residences between the headstones, these doll’s house graves are a striking example of non-traditional funerary art and changing ideas of grief, innocence,…
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The Hanging Coffins and Burial Caves of Lumiang
The practise of Hanging Coffins is arguably the most famous funerary ritual of the Kankanaey people of Sagada.
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A Very 90s Death: The Tamagotchi Cemetery
In 1996, Japanese toy designers Aki Maita and Yokoi Akihiro debuted the first ever Tamagotchi.
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The Grave of Clasped Hands: Love Conquering Death
It’s a twee little statement that love can conquer death, but one that rings romantically true in the adjoining graves of a Dutch Colonel and…
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Judy The Donkey: Grave Stories
In central Liverpool, in a sleepy corner of a sprawling park, sits the headstone of Judy the donkey. Worker, hero, icon.
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Louth Cemetery: Thinking Local
Louth Cemetery, servicing a small market town, holds as much awe and history as any city burial ground.
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Legsby St Thomas: Beef Rolls and Busy Farmers
Legsby St Thomas: A place for worship, farmers, locked chest mysteries and grave stories waiting to be told.
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A Trip to Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is a sprawling necropolis, nestled in the busy – and terribly posh – London Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
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The Grave of the Potato King: Friedrich Der Große
Friedrich Der Große’s grave is rather unusual, and not just for that of a royal. Why? There are always potatoes nearby.
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Mourning Gems: Hester Ann Barfield
A hair brooch, a name and a cross-continental journey. Hester Ann Barfield 1853-1856.
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Collection Feature: Ernest Frost
Ernest was a country boy, raised in the fields of Derbyshire, before finding love, achieving a very modern job and dying far too young.
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The Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion of 1871
The Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion occurred on a Friday afternoon, on 11thAugust 1871. The explosion killed 28 and injured a further 70.
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St Peter’s Church, Smallburgh: Tiny Shoes and Rood Screens
The rood screen at Smallburgh is arguably the main focal point of the church today.
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A Day at Greenbank Cemetery, Bristol.
Greenbank is a large Victorian Garden cemetery, but like so many others, has suffered from years of neglect.
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Cleethorpes Cemetery: Seafarers and Odd Fellows
Sitting in 31 acres, just off Beacon Avenue, Cleethorpes Cemetery opened in 1877 and is one of four cemeteries serving the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.
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Nancy Luce, The Chicken Lady
For company, Nancy may not have had humans, but she had her chickens…
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Crisis, What Crisis? The Gravediggers’ Strike of 1979
1979 was the Winter of Discontent, when industrial action (or inaction?) brought the UK to a standstill.
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Birdcage Walk: Remnants of a Bombed Churchyard
While the church is long gone, its churchyard remains, with tombs and monuments hidden behind metal railings and overgrown bushes. Although the site seems closed…
Burials & Beyond 