Lakes Guides, topics |
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| cross slabs, Cumbria | ||||
| county:- | Cumbria | |||
| also see:- |  gravestones, Cumbria hogback gravestones, Cumbria |
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| Grave Covers |
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| Cross slabs were recumbent grave covers on which the principle motif was a cross,
whose design is an indicator of date; they may also have an emblem which indicates
the sex, rank or occupation of the deceased. The slabs are generally the size of a
coffin lid; some half size slabs are probably not for children, but just half size
slabs which marked a grave. Cross slabs were in use since before The Conquest. In
the 9th century, Kenneth, King of Galloway and later of the Scots said that every
man should |
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| "... esteem every sepulchre or gravestone, and adorn it with the sign of the cross
..." |
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 BLO37.jpg |
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| Most cross slabs extant today date from the period 11th to 16th century. The practice
was |
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| "...snuffed out abruptly in the 16th century in the political and religious storms
of The Reformation." |
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| What replaced them were gravestones with skulls, crossed bones, grave diggers tools,
and other signs of man's mortality. |
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| The meaning of the emblems on cross slabs has been much discussed: Butler 1987 is
a good source of ideas. The most common emblems are:- |
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| sword - denoting a male burial |
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| shears - denoting a female burial |
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| chalice - denoting a priest |
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| Less common emblems are a chatelaine with keys for a housewife, horn and baldric or
a bow and arrows for a huntsman, set square and axe for a carpenter, coulter and ploughshare
for a ploughman, smith's tools for a blacksmith, and so on. |
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| Cross slabs in chuches are often tucked away in corners or obscured by more important
church furniture. Without making arrangements for access, taking tripod and lighting
equipment, the photos that are possible rely on flash, which utterly flattens to detail
you want to see. Our photography is opportunistic snapshottery, daylit for preference,
flash otherwise; the quality of the pictures of cross slabs is not really good enough. |
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| CCW38.jpg |  |
Furness Abbey, Barrow-in-Furness, SD21817177 -- Cross slab. (photo 17.4.2015) | ||
| CCW39.jpg |  |
Furness Abbey, Barrow-in-Furness, SD21817177 -- Cross slab. (photo 17.4.2015) | ||
| BSU30.jpg |  |
Hermitage Castle, Scotland, Hermitage Water, NY49619605 -- Cross slab. (photo 23.5.2010) | ||
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| references:- |
Bower, Rev Canon: 1912: Grave Slabs in the Diocese of Carlisle: Trans CWAAS: 2nd series
vol.12:: pp.86-98 and illustrations Butler, L A S: 1987: Symbols on Medieval Memorials: Archaeological Journal: vol.144: pp.246-255 Ryder, Peter: 2001: Cross Slab Grave Covers of Cumbria: Cumbria CC (Carlisle) Ryder, Peter: 2005: Medieval Cross Slab Grave Covers in Cumbria: TCWAAS:: ISBN 1 873124 40 4 |
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