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In memory of Helen, Alamo Cemetery on Flickr.
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Cemetery Railings by Stephen Callaghan on Flickr.
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© IndustrialBones Photography
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DSC09104 on Flickr.
Wotton Underwood Graves by R~P~M on Flickr.
Flickr OP: Part of the graveyard at All Saints Church, Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire. 10th December 2012.
Cemetery Death House - front view by Gary-Royer on Flickr.
This is where bodies were stored during winter months when gravediggers could not dig into the cold cold earth.
untitled by Star Cat on Flickr.
Flickr OP: The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a congregation of the Church of Scotland; it is within the Presbytery of Edinburgh. The church building is situated off Lothian Road in central Edinburgh, well below the level of Princes Street, surrounded by its churchyard. It was throughout the 19th century a fashionable church preferred by the rich burghers of the developing New Town.
The original burial ground was restricted to an area to the south-west, now a small mound in relation to the rest of the churchyard. This was latterly known as the “Bairns’ Knowe” (children’s hill) as it was often used for burial of children. Records show that this was open to the countryside until 1597, and sheep and horses would graze here. A wall was then built around the churchyard.
In 1701 ground was added to the west and north-west, concurrent with a refurbishment of the church, which is recorded as having been somewhat derelict since the period of the English Civil War.
In 1787 the north marsh (at the west end of what was then the Nor’ Loch was drained, immediately north of the church, to expand the area for burial. A little later the ground to the south-east was raised to drier levels and enclosed on its east side by a new wall.
In 1827 the watchtower to the south-west was built to defend against graverobbing which was rife at that time.
In 1831 the manse (to the south) was demolished, and a new manse and garden built further south.
Memorial to Rev. David Dickson (ca. 1840)In 1841 a railway tunnel was built under a new southern section of the graveyard, dating from omly 1834, to serve incoming trains to the new Waverley Station. Many graves had to be moved as a result of this. Stones from between 1834 and 1841 in this section have been totally lost or destroyed.
In 1863 the entire churchyard was closed under order of the newly appointed Medical Officer of Health, the graveyard being then considered “completely full”. The church however refused to cease burial considering a viable and important source of income. In 1873 the church, in a rare event, was taken to court for “permitting a nuisance to exist (as defined) under the Public Health Act 1867, being offensive and injurious to health”. This still did not effect closure. In 1874 they were ordered to close by the Council (then known as the City Corporation) but only did so after a year of further appeals.
The churchyard is impressive containing hundreds of monuments worthy of notice, including one to John Grant of Kilgraston (near Perth), and a three-bay Gothic mausoleum of the Gordons of Cluny by David Bryce.
One feature of oddness is at the west side of the churchyard, where Lothian Road has been widened over the churchyard (c.1900), but due to its greater height, has been done so on pillars, so the graves still remain beneath the road surface.
For those that enjoy virtual zinker-hunting or have posted your own zinker finds and snaps on Flickr and were looking for a like-minded group with which to share, I recommend the White Bronze Flickr group.
A few years back I wrote a post titled “Zinker Hunting” about the hard-to-find yet fun-to-discover rare, white bronze headstones, known in graving circles and to taphophiles as “zinkers” for their zinc composition.
The post stated, in part:
Gravers, if they know what to look for, are always on the lookout for a “zinker”. The term is slang for whitish headstones, advertised as “white bronze” in their day, which are made of pure zinc. What makes these particular markers unique is that they were only manufactured for a short duration of time by a singular company - and later its subsidiaries - in the United States.
The allure of zinkers never caught on due to their cheap cost and fragile appearance. The result is unfortunate because zinkers, as anyone can tell you, appear to stand the test of time far more diligently than their stone, iron, limestone, granite, and even marble counterparts. A zinker over one hundred years old will often look as if it was minted only the day before.
It was in Bridgeport, Connecticut that the Monumental Bronze Company first began the manufacture of “white bronze” headstones - a cheaper alternative to traditional monuments; while a large and ornate white bronze marker could go for up to $5,000.00, a small, simple name and date plate could sell for as low as $2.00.
Curious to see if you can find a zinker on your next trip to a graveyard? Then you might be wondering just how rare is it to stumble across a zinker headstone while cemetery hopping?
It seems to vary by region. There are few to none in some states while areas that were in closer proximity to the Monumental Bronze Company in Connecticut seem to be more zinker-populated. At least, this seems to be the conclusion I have come to when viewing zinkers online and noting where they were photographed at.
In all my years of graving and the hundreds of cemeteries I have visited here in Louisiana, I have only ever found two. My first I found on an old family/genealogy graving trip and my second I discovered just a few months ago during a visit to one of Baton Rouge’s oldest boneyards (my friend, who is a photographer and was visiting from the east coast, snapped the photo).
If you have snapped some zinker photos during your cemetery jaunts, please photo reply or share a link to your work.
Our sons by ratsal adsand on Flickr.
The mortality rate of children in days of yore was drastic and many families lost a number of children with only a few of the whole brood making it to adulthood.
