Wednesday 6 May 2009

All together Now -Two wives in the same grave


Out with a local art society, I noticed this headstone in a small churchyard at Rodden, near Frome in Somerset. I was struck by the fact it contained the remains of two women who were married to the same man. He had died many years later and was interred with them. As it was noted at the base of the headstone: "Reunited with his Loved Ones." Has anyone seen anything similar before?

Incidentally, and I know many followers of this blog are 'Graveyard Rabbits', does anyone know what the difference is between a gravestone and a headstone? Is there some sort of design feature that makes it one thing or another? If you know, please share it with us. Thank you.

7 comments:

  1. Laurie, this is indeed extraordinary... I hesitate to say it, (don't know if you followed all the punning going on over at Steve's blog) but this picture gives me the shivvers...

    And clearly his second wife was much younger than the first... I wonder how his wives would have felt if they had known they would be buried together? Did the second one know? Sort of a "menage à trois" for all eternity.

    Very unusual, in all my graveyard visits, have never seen one quite like this... but this illustrates why reading tombstones is an endlessly fascinating occupation... one never finishes discovering glimpses of past lives...

    PS I always thought headstone and gravestone were inter-changable and synonymous ?

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  2. PPS and please excuse the typos ! I just woke up (of course "shiver" has but one "v"; read it as in the extra "r"s in "brrrrrr" it's cold in this grave... and "interchangeable" of course has an "e"...

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  3. My husband has a multiple grave all figured out for us, too: Our dog is to be cremated and placed in Bill's casket when he passes. Tis would mean there's the possibility of openig the casket if the dog survives him. To me, this will be just my corporeal remains; my "self-soul" will have moved on.

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  4. Thanks Owen - There must be an interesting story here somewhere?

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  5. Hi Margaret - thanks for your various posts. Most illuminating. I quite like the idea for a multiple grave that you mention!

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  6. I have never seen anything like this, yet. My husband's uncle is buried between his two wives, but not with them. ;-)

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  7. Thanks Linda. I have to ask do they have individual headstones and . . . is there any reference to their connection with each other?

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