I developed a love of cemeteries at a very young age when my Grandmother would take me, on a weekly basis, to visit the graves of family members. Over the years, visiting and photographing cemeteries has become a hobby for me and I have spent many hours walking up and down rows of old graves, reading the headstones and wondering about the history behind them. I am drawn to the eerie beauty of the cemetery and I am always amazed at the time, effort and money people put into creating memorials to their loved ones. I am especially drawn to very old cemeteries because they hold so much local and family history. The weathered and worn headstones in these cemeteries have a character rarely found in the modern, manicured cemeteries of today.
Apparently, there is a name for people like me! Wikipedia tells me that I am known as a 'Taphophile' or 'tombstone tourist' - a person who has a passion for, and enjoyment of, cemeteries. Although, I like to spend as much time as I can on my hobby, I have yet to visit a snow covered cemetery in person, but this is something I hope to do in the future. However, for now, I will have to be content with looking at the beautiful photos that others so kindly share on the internet. Below is my contribution to this weeks theme:
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| Jeffries Gravestone - by dannyfowler |
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| Untitled - Highfield, Sheffield, England by andrewbasterfield |
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| Tiverton Cemetery - by Lewis Clark |
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| Frozen Souls - Wisbech St Mary church by Richard Humphrey |
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| The Death of ... by cremeglace |
In Beechwood Cemetery
Here the dead sleep--the quiet dead. No sound
Disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.
Winter mid snow caresses the tired ground,
And the wind roars about the woodland ways.
Springtime and summer and red autumn pass,
With leaf and bloom and pipe of wind and bird,
And the old earth puts forth her tender grass,
By them unfelt, unheeded and unheard.
Our centuries to them are but as strokes
In the dim gamut of some far-off chime.
Unaltering rest their perfect being cloaks--
A thing too vast to hear or feel or see--
Children of Silence and Eternity,
They know no season but the end of time.
Disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.
Winter mid snow caresses the tired ground,
And the wind roars about the woodland ways.
Springtime and summer and red autumn pass,
With leaf and bloom and pipe of wind and bird,
And the old earth puts forth her tender grass,
By them unfelt, unheeded and unheard.
Our centuries to them are but as strokes
In the dim gamut of some far-off chime.
Unaltering rest their perfect being cloaks--
A thing too vast to hear or feel or see--
Children of Silence and Eternity,
They know no season but the end of time.
Archibald Lampman
This post is part of a series of posts for Sepia Saturday, which
provides an opportunity for bloggers to share their history through
photographs. You can view more Sepia Saturday images here.
Photo Credits
andrewbasterfield, . Untitled. 2010. FlickrWeb. 6 Feb 2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewbasterfield/4375086523/.
Clark, Lewis. Tiverton Cemetery.
2010. commons.wikimedia.orgWeb. 6 Feb 2013.
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tiverton_,_Tiverton_Cemetery_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1654175.jpg>.
cremeglace, . The Death of .... 2019. FlickrWeb. 6 Feb 2013. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/cremeglace/3208536607/>.
dannyfowler, . Jeffries Gravestone. 2009. FlickrWeb. 6 Feb 2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannyfowler/4200461045/.
Humphrey, Richard. Frozen Souls.
2010. commons.wikimedia.orgWeb. 6 Feb 2013.
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frozen_souls_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1657895.jpg.
I feel the same way as you do about cemeteries - I've never seen them as eerie or depressing.
ReplyDeleteHi Brett, I find cemeteries far from eerie or depressing. They are full of history - we can learn so much by simply taking the time to walk around a cemetery.
DeleteI love old cemeteries too. Our vacation home is at a lake surrounded by big old farms whose owners years ago had family graveyards. Those are my favorite cemeteries. Sometimes there's a little fenced square in the middle of a field, or clinging to the corner along a road where the modern world has grown up around it.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
DeleteThose little abandoned family graveyards are wonderful places to visit. There is so much history attached to them!
You have taught me a new word today although I wouldn't describe myself as a taphophile. I have a few photos of gravestones to support my blogposts about 'famous' people from our village and local town. You have shown us an interesting collection.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteThank you for visiting - I'm happy you learned something from the post.
I share your love for cemeteries. In fact we live next door to one. That also has the advantage that the neighbours are very quiet and that we don't have to be afraid that some project developer will plan a high rise there :) Never heard of the word Taphophile. I found that Taphonomy is also known as the study of decomposing or decaying things. Well, you have to count me out there. Did you hear about the Graveyard Rabbits?
ReplyDeleteI agree Peter, I'm not too keen on studying decomposing or decaying things! I have heard of the Graveyard Rabbits - I follow quite a few of the listed blogs.
DeleteShudder! Chilled to the bone(s) by these wonderfully 'haunting' pictures. I've never seen that poem before- it's very apt.
ReplyDeleteHi Little Nell, I think it's a lovely little poem. Thank you for visiting.
DeleteI love cemeteries as well. The snow makes them seem even more peaceful.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see there are so many 'Taphophiles' out there. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteStrange how cemeteries and graveyards change when the sun goes down. In day-light you can linger in the peace of the place. After dark, one pulls their shrouds closer about them and scurries out to where the lights shine.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike,
DeleteI have to agree! I'm really not too keen on lingering in the cemetery after dark!
How fascinating. I am a fellow Taphophile, although until today I did not know it. I suspect most Sepians will be of a similar inclination - it goes with the love of all that is old and scratched. Fine photographs.
ReplyDeleteYes Alan, I love all things that are old, so I think there must be a connection.
DeleteBrowsing cemeteries! That's my second favorite thing to do after browsing bookshops. And I thought I was weird. So glad to find others like me on the internet and that there's a name for us who love doing what we do. Thanks for that. You shared beautiful pictures and I like the title of your post. Actually read the poem out loud from my chair as well.
ReplyDeleteBrowsing bookshops is also one of my favourite activities. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteIn a previous life I was a cemetery walk guide. People were fascinated by the symbols and stories.
ReplyDeleteYou've chosen some lovely images Karen.
A cemetery walk guide! Now that's a job I would thoroughly enjoy!
DeleteI am not a 'Taphophile,' but at least I now know what that is. I do think I would enjoy visiting a snowy cemetery with a camera.
ReplyDeleteI imagine there would be many beautiful photo opportunities in a snow covered cemetery!
DeleteI thought cemeteries were delightfully creepy when I was young and used to wonder why anyone would want to live next door to one. But when I started researching my family history I found myself spending many peaceful hours in lovely old cemeteries. I'm happy to see that there is a name for us. Taphophile! Who knew?
ReplyDeleteHi Sherri, cemeteries cannot really be avoided when researching family history, can they?
DeleteI like going to cemeteries too. I didn't know that we had a name, but I prefer "Tombstone Tourist" ... the other one sounds like a perversion or disease, lol.
ReplyDeleteYou have given us a wonderful selection of snow photos and the poem is lovely too. Thanks!
Kathy M.
I agree, 'Tombstone Tourist' is a far better way to describe those who love visiting cemeteries.
DeleteThose Frozen Souls are awfully close together in the 4th photo. Those snowy pictures are lovely, but haunting.
ReplyDeleteI thought those headstones looked awfully close together also. They seem to have squeezed in as many as they possibly could.
DeleteAlan's right, Sepians probably all enjoy a good cemetery. Those so much history there and so many stories to read on the tombstones.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful post.
Nancy
Old cemeteries in the snow are indeed lovely -- just as your pictures. However, new cemeteries with the flat head stones are very unsatisfying in the snow.
ReplyDeleteI agree Joan, the the flat headstones don't seem to have the same appeal.
DeleteHow very interesting. I'm an armchair genealogist and I appreciate a good headstone. annette62 on Flickr collects photographs of monuments and stones too.
ReplyDeleteI could be a 'Taphophile" as I am also drawn to od cemeteries.
ReplyDeleteI love thew pictures of them in the snow...the 2nd one is my favorite, something about it, like they are lost in the woods...
Jan from Jans Place
I liked the way you linked your interest in cemteries with the snowy theme. My favourite photo the one in Sheffield. The cemetery looked very overgrown but the snow on the trees and branches gave it a light ethereal air - a contrast to the next photo which was all dark, gloomy and forbidding - just right to illustrate a Gothic nove.
ReplyDeleteThe one in Highfield is my fave!!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't consider cemeteries a hobby,
but I do like visiting some.
The only time I felt sadness there was when looking at a child's grave...
Nice post!!
:)~
HUGZ