The cemetery covers 16.9 acres and contains areas for Church of England, Non-Conformist and Roman Catholic interments, with special areas designated for the interment of cremated remains. More recently, a Baby Section and Garden of Remembrance have been created.
I spent three fascinating hours there and can confirm the cemetery's graves are a rich source of grave art and symbolism. From time to time, I will share some of what I found in the pages of this blog.
One of the most striking memorials is in memory of a five-year-old boy, Ian Donald Murray, who died August 4, 1935. The grave is topped by the seated figure of a child. A lamb is sat beside him and he is cuddling it. It is possible that the figure is based on a likeness of the deceased child, but the representation looks older than a child of five. What minor catastrophe struck the grave, I do not know, but the feet of the figure are missing.
8 comments:
This is a wonderful statue,looking forward to seeing more from here,thanks!
Thank you, Tina. Glad you liked it.
Best wishes
Laurie
Oh, my! Another great stone. I too am looking forward to seeing more.
Not a very good carving in my humblest of opinions lol it does look rather juvenile - maybe that was the point? Anyway the lamb is the constant symbol of innocence and belongs with this small child who went on to the next journey after a mere blink in time.
such a poignant visual story - and, like cathy, i've always heard the lamb associated with innocence and children in graveyards - beautiful post!
When I was growing up (a long time ago now lol) I was told Donald and his dog had drowned in the River Wyre. The sculptor couldn't carve a dog, so carved a lamb instead.( which I think is highly unlikely) The Lamb is also a symbol of Jesus The Shepard. We used to visit every Sunday and lay flowers on families graves. I also used to fill the bird bath with water every week on the grave at the front ,and to the right of the Chapel
A nice story. And nice tomb. everyone can see more beautyful tombstone at Here
As a child of 4 I use to play with my brother in that cemetery and I remember sitting with Ian and talking to him. now I'm 62 and the memories flood back of the fishing village Fleetwood where I was born, where my father was an Icelandic fisherman and my mother sewed and repaired nets. Rip: Ian Donald Murray
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