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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

#31DaysofGraves Day 13: Unusual St Cyr's Church, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, UK This pyramid grave's inscriptions are unfortunately illegible. It is thought to date from the late 18th century.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Simon Paris Tours Cemeteries @simonparistours.bsky.social · 23h

#31DaysofGraves Day 13: Unusual #MontmartreCemetery I wanted to post this grave as a unique example and as one of the saddest The wife and son both died young and despite remarrying the husband was clearly affected by their loss. It reminds me of Fayum mummy portraits, check them on Wikipedia

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 22h

#31DaysOfGraves Day 13 - Unusual. All the individual parts of this memorial aren't unusual in themselves as such, but together?! To George Barker, d.1892 and his family. At Anfield Cemetery in Liverpool.

A large three layered granite monument. The top is shaped like a coffin, with handles and IHS motif. Beneath is a pink granite slab with large clawed feet. It is supported by another large granite pedestal, on which the inscription is written.

A view of the same large granite memorial from the other side.

Detail of one of the granite feet that hold up the top half of the monument. It is made of grey granite with four toes and pink granite claws.

The New Jewish Cemetery in Kraków overlaid with the text:
#31 Days of Graves
Day 1: Flower
Day 2: Urn
Day 3: Glass
Day 4: Entrance
Day 5: Vehicle
Day 6: Weather
Day 7: Home
Day 8: Animal
Day 9: Lettering
Day 10: Missing
Day 11: Humorous
Day 12: Ordinary
Day 13: Unusual
Day 14: Brick
Day 15: Language
Day 16: Faith
Day 17: Music
Day 18: Earth
Day 19: Water
Day 20: Fire
Day 21: Air
Day 22: Mourning
Day 23: Wings
Day 24: Contrast
Day 25: Tree
Day 26: Accident
Day 27: Portrait
Day 28: Landscape
Day 29: Fruits/Vegetables
Day 30: Colour
Day 31: Memento Mori

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 23h

Isn't it amazing! And the such fine engraving that would be impossible on local stone here.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 23h

Another millstone?! bsky.app/profile/welw...

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Welwyn Archaeological Society @welwynarchsoc.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Today's #31daysofgraves theme is unusual. These two gravestones are in the shape of millstones and are in the churchyard of All Saints, #Hertford. Unsurprisingly they are for a #millwright, Robert Fincher and his wife Elizabeth.

A semi-circular tombstone (who knows what lies beneath the soil) with a central hole made to look like a millstone. The inscription says "Elizabeth, Wife of Robert Fincher Millwright died the 18th July 1764 aged 60 years". In the foreground, grass, in the background the red-stone walls of the church.

A semi-circular tombstone (who knows what lies beneath the soil) with a central hole made to look like a millstone. The inscription says "Robert Fincher of this town, Millwright, died the third of March 1777 in the 86 year of his age". In the foreground, grass, in the background the red-stone walls of the church and the top of a window.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Kirsty Hartsiotis @stroudstory.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Day 13, unusual - @cathylowe.bsky.social led me around the church to reveal ... this! At Hampstead Norreys, #Berkshire, is this marvellous ziggurat to the Lowsley family from 1876 - *very* loosely based on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus... #31DaysOfGraves

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Scotland's Churches Trust @scotchurchestrust.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Day 12 of #31DaysOfGraves - Ordinary In heraldry, an "ordinary" is the technical name given to shapes that divide up a shield. These can be cross-shaped, chevrons, straight lines or, as in this case, saltires. This fabulous example is in the 'Poltalloch Enclosure' in Kilmartin Kirkyard, in Argyll.

Three graveslabs are shown, the two on either side are partially revealed, bearing effigies of medieval soldiers in West Highland style armour, the centre stone with a heraldic shield in the centre, featuring a saltire and four stag heads, with stars on saltire. At the top is a Latin inscription and the bottom are various symbols of mortality.

A close up of the heraldic shield, featuring a saltire and four stag heads, with five stars along the arms of the saltire. Beneath are various carved symbols, including winged souls, an hourglass and a heart.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Maybe! Though I will now be looking out for them.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I saw an "Auf Wiedersehen!" one here in Liverpool too. Perhaps @orsa-marga.bsky.social and other German participants can tell me how common it is?

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

orsa-marga.bsky.social @orsa-marga.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves 2026 Day 12: Ordinary / common in Germany After about 20-25 years a gravestone has to be taken away unless the family pays for further years. A lot of them are crushed and used for building streets.

Grabsteine und andere Steine zerbrochen auf einem Schutthaufen

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

This is what I was interested to see - things that are ordinary in some places aren't in others!

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☆ ωＥ 𝓐𝕣ⓔ Đ𝓵𝐅ᶠᵉ𝓻𝐄𝐧Ť ☆ @wearedlfferent.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 12: Ordinary/Gewöhnlich 📍 Shinagawa / Tokyo / 🇯🇵

Deutsch

Ein dicht belegter japanischer Friedhof liegt mitten zwischen mehrstöckigen Wohn- und Geschäftsgebäuden. Zahlreiche graue Grabsteine und hohe, schmale Holztafeln mit japanischen Schriftzeichen stehen eng nebeneinander. Dazwischen befinden sich kleine Blumenarrangements und steinerne Grabmale. Im Hintergrund ist eine Baustelle mit Gerüstplanen und Baumaschinen zu erkennen. Links und mittig rahmen hohe, teils verwitterte Gebäudefassaden den Friedhof ein, während rechts ein großer Baum mit dichtem Laub steht. Die warmen Brauntöne der Holztafeln bilden einen Kontrast zu den grauen Steinen und den blassen Fassaden. Die enge Bebauung und die Vielzahl der Grabtafeln verleihen der Szene eine ungewöhnliche, von Gegensätzen geprägte Wirkung.

English

A densely packed Japanese cemetery lies amid multi-storey residential and commercial buildings. Numerous grey gravestones and tall, narrow wooden memorial tablets bearing Japanese characters stand close together. Small floral arrangements and stone monuments are scattered among them. In the background, a construction site with protective tarpaulins and excavators is visible. Tall, weathered building facades frame the cemetery on the left and in the centre, while a large tree with dense foliage stands on the right. The warm brown tones of the wooden tablets contrast with the grey stone and pale building facades. The confined setting and the multitude of memorial tablets create an unusual scene marked by striking contrasts.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

This is what I was interested in seeing - what seems "ordinary" in some places doesn't in others!

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Oh that's cool! I haven't noticed any of those near here.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Interesting to see similar shapes and sizes but different stone!

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

It's hugely dependent on burial type and soil composition. At Little Crosby the soil is very sandy, meaning the shifting sands completely obscured any sign of even the grave cuts.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Wonderful! And yes you're right. I also considered calling it "boring" but there are no boring graves either! I just wanted to see what's considered "normal" to people in different areas.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 12 - Ordinary: Most C19th memorials in the Liverpool area are sandstone headstones of quite simple shapes with limited motifs. This is a typical one from Toxteth Park Cemetery. My PhD research showed that 27% of C19th memorials there are the same style as this one!

A simple curved top headstone made out of sandstone. It has a simple outline border and no other motifs. It commemorates Anne and Robert Redfern.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

lunchtimedisco.bsky.social @lunchtimedisco.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

#31DaysofGraves - Day 11 - Humorous Aspinwall Cemetery, Putnam, Connecticut, USA Maybe more charming than humorous, but this stone for little Joseph Larned (d. 1750) makes me smile. The carver’s name is unknown, so they have been dubbed the “Killingly Egg Carver” for their distinctive style.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 11 - Humorous: I think the suggestion for this one was joke/irony, so I have gone with a little ironic. The family of John and Elizabeth Whitby (both d.1862) obviously thought they would be happiest with grateful hearts AND a sculptured stone.

An inscription on a memorial which reads
"Happy are the dead whose virtue are recorded not on sculptured stone but in the grateful hearts of those whom they have loved on earth"

The verse is on the large pedestal monument mounted with an urn which commemorates the Whitby family.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

The burial ground was established by the land owner William Blundell for Catholic "recusants" who couldn't be buried in the local parish church.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 10 - Missing: I spent 3 seasons digging at the Harkirk burial ground in Little Crosby (in use 1611-1753). We identified the boundaries of the site (a ditch meeting a wall) but didn't find a single grave. The only evidence of the graves today are mounted in the chapel wall.

Three fragments of gravestones and some medieval stonework mounted in a stone wall. The graves date to the 17th and 18th centuries.

A large trench in a wooded area revealing reddish soil with two ranging rods in the centre, the spoil heap of soil is in the background.

A soil ditch runs away from the photo and meets a stone wall about 6 courses high.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Beatyblue @beatyblue27.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

#31daysofgraves 2026 Day 8 Animal /Tier #zentralfriedhofwien Feldhamster, leider vom Aussterben bedroht. Field hamsters, which are sadly threatened with extinction.

Braun/weißer Feldhamster sitzt auf einer Steinmauer.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

dr. élise madeleine @elisemadeleine.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Day 9 of #31daysofgraves: Lettering. Stonecutting brothers Samuel and Sylvanus Tingley invented some of the most intricate fonts in early 19th c Providence, RI. This rather plain-looking slate for Charles Haskell, a Black Revolutionary War veteran, takes on new dimensions when you get verrrry close.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 09/10/2026

🪦 #31DaysOfGraves — Day 10: Missing These unmarked graves are missing headstones but the rain helps us remember that people are buried there. 📍 Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 🦘 fotc.au

Unmarked graves can be clearly seen after rain.

There are many unmarked graves in Toowong Cemetery. Take care when you walk across the grass as unmarked graves can leave hidden hollows that are a trip hazard.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

It almost works as a sales brochure - "look at all the styles I can do!"

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Alison Spring @acspring.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves #Lettering Not quite a gravestone, although it is in a graveyard, and not quite letter-ing, but letters: a "postbox to heaven" in Wolston, Warwickshire, suggested by a grieving relative. Read about it at www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A typical country postbox on a pole. The box has been painted white with gold lettering. It bears the usual "Post Office E [crown] R" but on the side, and the front, is inscribed a drawing of an envelope , followed by "Letters To Lost Loved Ones". The postbox is situated within a graveyard.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I remember when you posted this one before? Did we rule out the initials being HR? (rather than an IHR?)

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Nettle @nettleverity.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#31DaysofGraves Day 9: Lettering St George's, Tiverton, Devon, UK This stone is inscribed with a tribute to Tristram Whitter, 64, 1776, written by his sons. '... for know Reader that this Stone simple and unadorned for he loved simplicity...'

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 9 - Lettering: A very loopy style on the headstone commemorating Isobell Wobster, d.1752 at Brechin Cathedral. Wife of William Maule Gardiner at the Castle of Brechin and mother of 12 children! Described as having "unshaken patience".

A headstone commemorating Isobell Gardiner. The stone features a lot of text, all in an elaborate font.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

You choose! But @orsa-marga.bsky.social's list is a good place to start :)

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 8 - Animal: Lions! At Kraków New Jewish Cemetery 🦁 And my favourite motif - a gravestone on a gravestone.

A headstone at an angle as it is sinking into the ground. The carving at the top features a lion with one paw on top of a gravestone. The text is in Hebrew.

Three very similar headstones in a crowded cemetery. Each has Hebrew text and a lion motif at the top.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

Simon Paris Tours Cemeteries @simonparistours.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Different vibe for this animal Ever thought that you had the weight of the world 🌎 🌍 on your back? #31DaysofGraves Day 8: Animal Tortoise 🐢 #mono #blackandwhite

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orsa-marga.bsky.social @orsa-marga.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves 2026 Day 8: Animal Jesus and the red squirrel Parkfriedhof Lichterfelde Berlin

Eine steinerne Statue eines sitzenden Jesus auf einer Grabstätte auf einem Friedhof, während links auf der Mauer ein kleines Eichhörnchen sitzt

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 7: Home Jason Russell of Menotomy, MA, who was "barbarously murdered in his own House by GAGE'S bloody troops" during the retreat from Lexington/Concord. Russell's epitaph casts him as an innocent civilian and British troops in the role of "barbarous" attacker. It invokes the

A gray slate gravestone with a winged skull in they tympanum and simple foliate borders. Inscription: Mr. Jason Russell was barbarously murdered in his own House by Gage's bloody Troops on ye 19th of April 1775. Aetatis 59. His body is quietly resting in this Grave with Eleven of our friends who in Like manner with many others were cruelly Slain on the that fatal day. Blessed are ye dead who die in ye Lord.

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Blurred_Lens @lensblurred.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 7: Home A feeling of home. The grave of George Leo Smith & Mary Minnie Smith in Southern Cemetery, Manchester

The gravestone is double-doors within a brick style frame. There is an arch above the door with a cross, and the word 'Peace' above that. Each door has two metal hinges, and there is a keyhole cover. It resembles the doors of a church. The names are written at a 45° angle across the left door.

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Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#31DaysofGraves Day 7: Home "Mr. and Mrs. Flagg were one of the first four families in Will County and always lived in a log cabin of this style; and that is why this monument was especially designed for them.” Plainfield, Illinois, Twp Cemetery Details at link gravelyspeaking.com/2023/08/09/a...

A brownish stone tombstone carved to look like a rustic log cabin. The door shows the latchstring out and there is a single window and a chimney. The name "FLAGG" is carved on a stone board above the door.

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I know! Ultimately Eliza and Gilbert were only buried 3 weeks apart.

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Marisa Fez @marisafez.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#31DaysofGraves 7. Home 🏡 Emma, Cimitière des Chiens – Paris 🇫🇷 One of my favorites tombs inside this isolated french cemetery. Emma, a little dog depicted inside her luxurious doghouse just after she died 💔

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 7 - Home: An intriguing one from St James' Cemetery, Liverpool. Eliza F Clements was born in Utah, died in San Francisco aged 9, and was buried there in June 1865. She was disinterred and reburied in Liverpool 11 months later, at her request to be interred near the "old home".

A plain sandstone headstone with curved top commemorating Eliza F Clements and her 2 month old brother.

The headstone includes the words 'Old Home.

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Reposted by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson

a3minutewonder.bsky.social @a3minutewonder.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

#31daysofgraves Day 6 Weather Clouds and rain or thunder and lightning.

Died almost exactly 1 year apart but then noticed the 61 year age difference ?

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Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson @annaandthedead.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I am some what ashamed (and actually surprised) that I recognise it and can tell you it's St James' Cemetery in Liverpool :|

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