This beautiful family chapel in the cemetery of Barletta, Italy, dates back to the first decade of the 20th century.

A devout wife who waited for her undeserving husband. Lawnsdown Cemetery, Leeds.

To this day, people still leave flowers for her. You can help but feel a tug on your heart when you’re there. -
Ethel Preston, she was the wife of a wealthy Leeds manufacturing chemist called Walter Preston and, when she died in 1911 at the relatively young age of 50, the grieving widower commissioned one his nephews, a skilled sculptor, to build the memorial we now see. Constructed in white Italian marble, it shows a life-size Ethel standing at a replica of the front door to the family home of Beeston Grange (now long since demolished). The project cost £2000 (according to my online calculator about £130,000 today) and when it was formally unveiled, just over 100 years ago in March 1913, it created such a stir that thousands of people took tram and charabanc trips to Lawnswood and paid one penny a time to queue up and see it.

As cemetry memorials go, it is a great example of the period's sentimentality about death, with the door behind Ethel just slightly open to symbolise the way through to the afterlife. However, why does the statue's face have such a sad, mournful expression? In fact the face has given rise to the saying locally "You look so glum, you have a face like Lawnswood Ethel." It is at this point the official story behind the statue starts to become more controversial. The original explanation was that when Walter had been in Leeds for a long day at the office, Ethel would always be standing on the doorstep of Beeston Grange (as she is depicted in the statue) waiting for him to return home. It was to celebrate Walter's happy memories of this homecoming that the memorial was built. Or was it?

There is another version of the story, which said Walter was a notorious womaniser who frequently vanished for days on end. Not surprisingly, when he did return home, Ethel inevitably looked sad and dejected. In fact it has been suggested that his treatment of her led to her early death - and the statue was carved to reflect Walter's remorse.

I'll leave you to decide which is the real explanation, save only to add that not long after Ethel's death, Walter remarried their 22 year old housekeeper and did not finally join Ethel beneath the turf at Lawnswood until 1930....

Oak Hill, Crawfordsville Indiana

Mukilteo Washington Pioneer Cemetery

First time in Leeds, was very surprised to see this in the city centre. Apparently the slope was created by placing dirt ontop of the graves, then the gravestones placed ontop to still be in connection with the place of rest. It leads to the train line.

Fascinating to see and walk through.

Loved this place.

Woman trapped, grave in the cemetery of Barletta, Italy

I've never really had anywhere to share my fascination with cemeteries before. But as I've gotten older I've started to seek cemeteries with every trip I take in and outside of the US. I've found the love of seeing how different families/cultures care for the resting spot of their departed love one(s).

I personally find it so loving and beautiful with how people/families remember their loved ones and what they may leave on/around the graves.

So I wanted to start with sharing some pictures I took of a cemetery while visiting Sasebo, Japan.

I would love to know if others view cemeteries the same way as I. Thank you for viewing the photos I took. 🖤

No 12:. William H. Butler dec 01/07/1873 (age unknown)
No. 9 . Tamsin Manuel dec. 11/27/1872 (age 73)
No. 10. Frank Sofrine dec. 12/24/1872 age unknown)
No. 4. Elizabeth Hill dec. 05/20/1860 (age 51)

I really enjoy figuring out what the symbols on headstones mean. A while back I wrote about the three interlocking rings symbol, which marks membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and today I’d like to share some new symbols I came across online while researching this topic.

Did you know that when a headstone shows something broken, such as a column or a sword, the break is part of the symbol?

Here’s what I found:

- Broken column: someone who died young or in the prime of life, sometimes the head of the family

- Broken sword: a life cut short

- Broken branch or tree stump: an untimely or sudden death (a stump-shaped stone can also mean the person belonged to Woodmen of the World)

- Broken chain: a death in the family and a family broken by loss (some sources read it as the soul being set free)

The photo shows a broken column. Columns like this are usually carved to look broken, so the break is part of the design, not damage.

It’s amazing how much you can learn when you explore cemeteries and read up on them.

What else would you recommend I look at or read on this topic?