Cemeteries

"I can’t quite remember when my obsession with cemeteries began though I always was a morbid child!

I became fascinated by mausoleums and the beautiful memorials particularly angels whilst visiting cemeteries. The carving was amazing and their faces seemed so real.

Jeane Trend-Hill

I started photographing them and it soon became obvious that particular designs cropped up again and again. Angels holding on to crosses, angels scattering petals, angels with wings outstretched looking towards heaven etc. The more weathered they were the more lifelike they appeared.

Victorian

I prefer the Victorian ones, which have a certain crumbling quality about them. Most of the modern angels seem too clean and white for my taste. Stone masons never carved angels with tears, but some of their rain battered faces appeared to make them look as though they are crying. This is something I try to capture in my photos.

My favourite cemetery is Highgate in North London, which is wild, romantic and gothic.

I found the huge mausoleums were like miniature houses adorned with decorative features sometimes giving a glimpse into the life of its occupant.

The first mausoleums of modern times were primitive in design but the coming of Christianity signalled a change in approach.

Highgate Cemetery

Parish churches offered sites for burial and the memorials reflected the status of the deceased. Some of the earliest British mausoleums are to be found in Scottish graveyards circa 1691.

In England freestanding mausoleums did not appear until the mid eighteenth centaury. The English had built them prior to that but not in England but in India inspired by the grand Mughal tombs.

Symbols

For me some of the best examples are in Highgate cemetery. The imposing one for Julius Beer who owned the Observer newspaper was commissioned in 1867, the Dalziel mausoleum for financier David Dalziel, the Hartley family mausoleum (a huge grey granite structure), and the temple mausoleum of Henry Eaton (Lord Cheylesmore) dating from around 1891.

The Necropolis in Glasgow, which overlooks the city above the cathedral, contains some incredible ones too including a circular Romanesque chapel built in 1842 for Archibald Monteath. 

I am often asked about the symbols on tombstones and what they mean; here are some of the more common ones:

Anchor. Hope or at rest, an early Christian symbol.

Angel. The agent of God often pointing heavenwards also guardian of the dead.

Bed. A deathbed sometimes only illustrated by a pillow.

Book. Symbolises faith.

Chair. Commonly known as a vacant chair left by the deceased.

Column.  A broken column signifies mortality, the support of life being broken.

Dove. The Holy Spirit or peace.

Gates. The entrance way into heaven.

Hands. When clasped this is a symbol of farewell.

Horse. Strength, courage or the swiftness of the passage of time.

Hourglass. The traditional symbol of Father Time who also carries a scythe.

Lamp. Immortality, knowledge of God.

Laurel. Fame. Often of a literary or artistic figure.

Lion. Courage, strength and the resurrection.

Obelisk. Eternal life from the Egyptian sun-worshipping symbol.

Phoenix. Christ’s resurrection.

Rocks. The church or Christen steadfastness.

Rose. Associated with the Virgin Mary or paradise.

Scythe. Passage of time and death.

Ship. The Christian church symbolically carrying the faithful through the world.

Skull. Mortality.

Snake. With its tail in it’s mouth means eternity.

Water. A hand pouring water from a flagon may occur on Jewish tombs of the Levites whose duty in the synagogue is to pour water upon the hands of the priests.

Torch. Immortality, upturned means a life extinguished.

Urn. Draped and empty symbolises death.

Wheat. Fruitfulness harvested.

Willow. Grief and mourning.

Highgate Cemetery

Yew. On account of it’s dark colour and its association with churchyards. 

My favourite monument is an angel who appears to be sleeping on a bed of clouds. She has this almost mesmerising quality which draws you to her, I could spend hours looking at her."

About Jeane:

Born and bred in Islington, North London Jeane Trend-Hill is a photographer, psychic, parapsychologist and paranormal investigator. Dubbed the ‘Headstone Hunter’ she spends much of her time in cemeteries photographing monuments and has produced a photography book Silent Cities, plus a Silent Cities clothing and gifts line.

Jeane collects 19th century mourning cards, Victorian mourning jewellery and has a keen interest in burial rites and funerary. She also writes articles for national newspapers and magazines on the paranormal and related subjects.