The secret language of Bristol’s graves – how many can you spot?
Your handy pull-out-and-keep Bristol Times guide to the symbols you can spot in on old graves in cemeteries and graveyards
1, 2 & 3. Angels
The Victorians loved an angel, but she can be doing different things. If she’s pointing upwards with outstretched wings she’s escorting the soul of the deceased to Heaven. Pointing downwards she usually signifies an early death. Strewing roses on the ground usually represents the untimely death of a woman or girl.
4. Obelisks
Christianity mattered greatly to the Victorians, so one of the hardest things to understand is why they went in for so many “pagan” symbols in graveyards. Obelisks, inspired by ancient Egypt, had nothing to do with Christianity, but that, in some ways, was the point. It was a religiously neutral symbol. The one in the fore-ground here is the grave of businessman, philanthropist and politician Handel Cossham at Avonview.
5. Crosses
The language of grave crosses is incredibly complicated. Many Victorian Protestant Brits believed them to be a “Catholic” symbol and so avoided them. More High Church Anglicans tended not to have a problem with them while others, as here – it’s the grave of local grandee and sometime Lord Mayor Joseph Weston at Arnos Vale - opted for a “Celtic” design as it seemed less foreign (and therefore Catholic). The circle in the Celtic cross represents eternity.
6. Urns
The cremated remains of the dead in ancient Greece and Rome were placed in funerary urns. Again, “pagan” symbolism was enlisted by Victorian Christians, often to avoid an overtly religious symbol. Urns are usually, though not always, depicted partly or wholly covered by a veil, symbolising the boundary between Heaven and earth.
7. Broken pillars
There’s a Victorian broken pillar or two in almost every cemetery and many graveyards. It’s not been cracked by frost but deliberately made that way. It represents a life cut short, usually representing the death of a (male) breadwinner.
8. Books
Sculpted books sometimes represented the “book of life”, brought to a close, but more commonly they were associated with the Bible and religious scholarship. You often see them on the graves of clergymen, such as here on the grave of a former army chaplain at Arnos Vale.
9. Fingers pointing
Pointing upwards it means the hope of getting to Heaven. One pointing downwards isn’t suggesting that the late lamented has gone to the Other Place, but the hand of the Almighty reaching down to reach for the departing soul.
10. Anchors
Anchors are quite common in Bristol cemeteries and graveyards, less so in other parts of the country. No prizes for guessing that they’re often seen on the graves of seafarers. But not always! An anchor can also denote strong and firm religious faith and is often to be seen on the memorials to clergymen who’d have been seasick on a boating pond. This particularly fine example from St Michael’s, Winterbourne, commemorates Thomas James, who was indeed a sea captain.
11. IHS
Not to be confused with a dollar sign or anything to do with money, the combination of the letters IHS can be found in various forms on many headstones and monuments. It’s a sign of Christian faith, variously being the first three letters of Jesus’ name or the Greek for “Jesus, our Saviour” or Latin for “Jesus, Saviour of Men” of the Latin “In Hoc Signo” – “in this sign”, or it can be Anglicised to “In His Service” or more. Anyway, you get the idea.
12. Torch and trumpet
The torch represents life, and when turned downwards but still burning represents death AND eternal life. It’s often seen alongside the trumpet, representing Judgement Day.
13. Pelican
The pelican is quite rare, but has a very specific meaning, coming from the belief that a female pelican would, if necessary, peck open her breast to feed her young with her own blood. So it signifies sacrifice to help others. This one is at Arnos Vale on the grave of Joseph Williams, a young surgeon who lost his life to cholera while tending to the sick at the Stapleton Workhouse in 1849.