Key symbols commonly found
on Catholic graves
Roman Catholic monuments in
An example of a 'Celtic' style cross, which includes the IHS symbol. Photo: T. Fielding. |
During the years the
Key symbols commonly found on
non-Catholic graves
One of the key differences between Roman
Catholic monuments and non-Catholic monuments is that non-Catholic adherents
(though there were exceptions) did not utilise the cross in commemorating their
dead. The cross ‘was shunned as being
too popish and iconographic for funerary monuments’. The Protestant view was that the use of the
Virgin Mary, the Saints, and even the crucifix would encourage the worship of
idols, rather than God. In the Georgian
period the non-Catholic religions erected plain-shaped headstones (Gothic,
Norman and anthropomorphic) and used a minimum of decoration but in the
Victorian and Edwardian eras more and more decoration was employed, and
memorials took the shape of obelisks, columns, urns, pedestals, pediments,
ledger stones and table-tops. Angels and
weeping willows could be found on Church of England headstones, but figurative
sculpture was less popular among non-conformist religions such as the
Presbyterians, Weslyans and Independents.
An example of an 'anthropomorphic' shaped headstone. Photo: T. Fielding |
The symbolism on non-catholic headstones in the West End Cemetery between the late 1860s and the
late 1920s varied very little. Ivy, a
symbol of fidelity and eternal life is utilised very heavily during this
period. Another very common motif is the
clasped handshake symbol. Often the
cuffs depict both men and women’s clothing suggesting a farewell in this life and
a reunion in the next. This particular style of headstone was also erected in
this cemetery for a number of Anglicans and was extremely popular with
Methodists.
By the 1930s, monuments such as obelisks and
pedestals with draped urns and broken columns became popular large monuments in
the West End Cemetery , particularly with Church of
England and Presbyterian followers. A
change that can be observed in the West
End Cemetery
is the use of crosses on non-catholic graves.
In this article I’ve only focused on the five
most common religions represented in the cemetery. Up to the year 1900, those
five religions (Church of England, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Weslyan and
Methodist*) accounted for approximately 85% of burials. The other three largest
groups recorded were listed as Pagan, Heathen and unknown. While they were recorded as such, it’s likely
that many of these last three groups were actually Indigenous, or of Chinese or
South Sea Island
origin.
* Both
Weslyan and Methodist were recorded as separate religions in the West End Cemetery register.
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