Tag: oddities
-
Collection Feature: Agnes Sturgeon
The life of Agnes Sturgeon has expanded beyond her small, folded memorial.
-
Ice, Ice, Body: Introducing Ice Caskets
In the age before embalming and refrigerated storage, keeping bodies preserved and cool was a serious issue for undertakers and families alike.
-
Death Cheese: A Short History
In life, three things are for certain: Birth, Death and Cheese. The greatest of these is cheese.
-
Medieval Secrets at St Faith’s Church, Little Witchingham
Medieval wall paintings. Grand, loud, bright and famous. They fill the pages of guidebooks, celebrated by tourists for centuries. They are never forgotten. Right?
-
Gef the Ghostly Mongoose
Ghosts and ghouls, hauntings and mournful spirits; one theme remains constant throughout. They are all human. Then there’s Gef.
-
Timothy Clark Smith: The Grave With a Window
Instead of considering glass coffins and mausoleums, physician Timothy Clark Smith had rather more practical ideas…
-
Victorian Iron Mummies: The Fisk Casket
Fisk’s patent explains that ‘the air maybe exhausted so completely as entirely to prevent the decay of the contained body on principles well understood; or,…
-
The House of Faces
Over a period of seven days, the mysterious stain turned into the clear image of a face. A face that would not disappear, no matter…
-
In Praise of Death Stationery
Memorial cards were often one of the first indicators of grief and one of the last reminders…
-
The World of Victorian Grave Dolls
After experiencing the death of a loved one, our mourning practises may include collecting mementos…and a full-sized effigy of the deceased.
-
The Hand of Glory
When creating your mystical severed appendage, there were rules to be followed…
-
A Short History of British Screaming Skulls
While sounding like a high-school punk band, screaming skulls are a not-uncommon element woven through the rich British tapestry of haunted body parts.
-
The Curious Case of Edward Mordake’s Demon Face
You think you’re having a bad day? Well, imagine how bad you’d be feeling if you had a second face on the back of your…
Burials & Beyond 