In Search of Gravestones Old and Curious by W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent
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meaningless, designs employed to fill in otherwise blank spaces,
though symbols of death, eternity, and the future state are in plentiful command for such purposes. Something like this same ornament may be found on a very old flat stone in the churchyard of Widcombe, near Bath. It stretches the full width of the stone, and is in high relief, which has preserved it long after the accompanying inscription has vanished. The probable date may be about 1650. FIG. 3.--AT WIDCOMBE, NEAR BATH. In Newhaven Churchyard, though there are but these two striking examples of the allegorical gravestone, there is one other singular exemplification of the graver's skill and ingenuity, but it is nearly a score of years later in date than the others, and probably by another mason. It represents the old and extinct bridge over the Sussex Avon at Newhaven, and it honours a certain brewer of the town, whose brewery is still carried on there and is famous for its "Tipper" ale. Allowing that it was carved by a different workman, it is only fair to suppose that it may have been suggested by its predecessors. Its originality is beyond all question, which can very rarely be said of an old gravestone, and, as a churchyard record of a local institution, I have never seen it equalled or approached. FIG. 4.--AT NEWHAVEN, SUSSEX. Under the design is the following inscription: "To the Memory of Thomas Tipper, who departed this life May y'e 14th, 1785, Aged 54 Years. |
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