More Lamington Graves

As promised in my previous post here are some more images from my visit to Lamington Graveyard including this view of the church itself from the other side compared to the previous post. The wall is probably much older than this building and must have surrounded the original building that was there before.

This is all that remains of the church before the present building seen above was build. According to the information board it dates back to the 12th Century. Doesn't that just take your breath away? That you can stand in front of something build by masons in Norman times? And you can touch it! The memorial plaque in the middle is much more recent and dedicated to those soldiers from Lamington, who died for their country in the Great War (World War I).

There were some very old stones in this graveyard and this is one of them. The text reads: Here lyes the dust of John Noble, tennant in (notice how the mason overlooked this word and put it in later above the rest of the text, a wonderful human touch) Lamington Mains who died there Sept. 18th 1768 aged 55 years. Know as thou treadst this humble spot of earth he who..............

Much to my regret the rest is unreadable but probably warns that death is also to come for all of us who look at this stone. We might be still alive at the moment but can't escape the same fate. Just wish I could see the actually words!!

A very militant looking Winged Soul (just as the one shown in the picture at the bottom of this blog, which is on the neighbouring gravestone), with a skull beneath. But more interesting than even those is the serpent shown at the bottom, eating itself. This is a symbol of eternity (as are all circles) but of course, also refers back to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, or paradise.

A rare example of a whole skeleton on a gravestone, holding an hourglass in one hand and possible something else (now no longer discernable but probably a bone) in the other. It could be the Angel of Death, also known as the King of Terrors! It's a real shame that most of the imagery is now lost to the moss that is slowly on its way to covering the stone completely. At the top the words Memento Mori can just be seen still.

A most unusual Winged Soul at the top that looks more like the skull underneath which it is sheltering in its wings. And the crossbones embrace what I think is the spade and shovel, tools of the gravedigger and as such also symbols of mortality. They could possible also be a pair of scythes.