Graveyards & Cemeteries

[SniperK2]

These are subject to so many cliches that I was interested to know if other people, like me, find these peaceful, if rather melancholy ( to me) places, but not at all frightening. I can walk around one at night, accompanied! - and feel not the slightest shiver. Although the parents did back out of moving into a house that faced directly onto one, when I was about 7.
Does any-one have any experiences, or what are your views on these places.

 

[escargot]

Lovely places. A relative sent me a CD of old family photos a few years back.
One of the beautifully creepy things about it was the occasional juxtaposition of a formal family group with a snap of the gravestone of one of them, often overgrown and lichen-covered. A modern memento mori.

The oldest part of our local cemetery goes back only to the 1840s which is when the area first became industrialised. I walk through occasionally and find myself reading the inscriptions. Many relate to young children, who died in their thousands from diseases we'd never even think of now.

In Knutsford recently I took a morbidly large number of photos in the churchyard.

 

[decipheringscars]

I find them peaceful, too. Alone in the day, or accompanied at night - although I think the "accompanied" part is more a matter of common sense - when you go anywhere at night where there won't be people around, it's best not to go alone - for fear of the living more than the dead, or in case you (since it's dark) trip and sprain or break something and need help!
But I've always found graveyards to be quite interesting, too - reading the stones, thinking about the historical situations of these people, etc. I used to sometimes do rubbings of interesting artwork engraved on the stones, but I don't anymore, because I don't want to keep all the extra paper around!

 

[James_H]

I've spent a lot of time in graveyards in my role as a morbid teenager, and I've never seen anything spooky apart from graves. I remember reading in something like the Usborne book of ghosts that it's believed graveyards typically only have one ghost, the "watcher" (normally the most recent burial) who guards against evil spirits entering the hallowed ground.

 

[escargot]

The funeral scene in 'Ghost' was good. I liked how the pretty young lady waved then turned and walked away into a stone memorial! Just how I'd imagine it to be.

My family have seen, um, ghosts in graveyards and municipal cemeteries. Once in Birmingham my parents turned to each other in astonishment as a woman walked towards them and vanished - 'Did you see that?!'

I read the Usborne book when my kids had it.
The picture of the 'graveyard guardian' looked so terrifying that I'm glad I didn't see it as a kid myself. And it was perfectly capable of haunting all by itself!

 

[decipheringscars]

IIRC, the ancient Greeks, believing that Hades (where spirits go after death) was literally underground (the bottom layer of the "three-tiered universe"), considered graves to be portals to Hades. What is the reasoning now (not that there's necessarily just one) in connecting graves with spirits?

If this is too much of a tangent to this thread, could someone please point me to a thread already relevant to this discussion? - or we could start a new thread...

 

[_Lizard23_]

What is the reasoning now (not that there's necessarily just one) in connecting graves with spirits

Hmm I suspect it might be something like

ghosts = dead people

and

graves = dead people

?

 

[James_H]

I think the reasoning behind the "watcher" being the only ghost in the graveyard is that the rest of them appear in their place of death, like good ghosts should.
There's a graveyard in the middle of Oxford (where I was last night) which I've inhabited, and although it is supposedly haunted, with its location I don't suppose a minute goes by without someone walking past it, so they must be some very sneaky apparitions.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm a graveyard caretaker, and they make great workplaces. Quiet, neat and no customer is likely to make a fuss.

I find graveyards very peaceful, but swedish ones are a bit dull- too many straight lines. Continental ones are much more to my liking. They're also best if not too many people visit... in Stockholm they have problems with joggers and people walking their dogs, it disturbs the mourners. I think you need to pay a bit more respect than that- it's ok to go for a stoll but it's not a park, after all!

 

[escargot]

In my home town peeps use the cemetery as a shortcut.

A few years ago it was decided to put up 'bike-proof' gates to stop cyclists speeding through, so now wheelchairs and pushchairs are excluded too.

So you can't stroll in the cemetery unless you're able-bodied and childless or can drive in, as the one wide enough gate is the funeral entrance.

And guess what- there's just as much vandalism, theft from cars and criminal damage as before.
In fact, all lead was nicked off the crematorium roof last year.

Funny that a cemetery is not supposed to be a park, yet the local cemeteries are run by the Parks Department!

Chigrima, you sound happy in your work.
We expect immediate reports of any and all strange goings-on, first sightings of new ULs, special graveyard folklore and so on.

 

[Anonymous]

I think you need to pay a bit more respect than that- it's ok to go for a stoll but it's not a park, after all!

Oh dear! I shan't tell you what a girlfriend and I used to get up to in a local graveyard at night then! Bet the spirits enjoyed it though!

Well! You just can't get any peace anywhere, can you? Mind, it'd be pretty well impossible now as I hear they're all covered by CCTV to "stop" vandelism. Ha! Kids today, eh? Tossers!

 

[escargot]

An ex's mother lived in Conwy, where the graveyard is used as a town centre shortcut.

She was believed to make her beer money by having it off on the graves, and a local joke was that if she showed her *rse it'd have some poor sod's name imprinted on it backwards.

 

[Anonymous]

Hahahahahaaaaaaaaa!

 

[anne_of_28_days]

i used to assist a ghosthunter friend, and most of her studies took place in graveyards at night. i loved how peaceful it was. a huge cemetery in iowa was our favorite. rolling hills and marshy ponds. i was a total skeptic, but i do remember one night of extremely bad vibes which i could never explain.

 

[escargot]

There's a big difference between the concepts of 'a graveyard' and 'a cemetery'.

Graveyards are normally attached to a church. When they're not, the British name for them is 'cemetery' but I've seen some more interesting American terms such as 'burying place'. (Stephen King has a lot to answer for!)

The old 'graveyard' section of the local cemetery is certainly more atmospheric than the newer 'municipal' part.

 

[lemonpie3]

They're also best if not too many people visit... in Stockholm they have problems with joggers and people walking their dogs, it disturbs the mourners. I think you need to pay a bit more respect than that- it's ok to go for a stoll but it's not a park, after all!

Ah. The local cemetary at the top of my road is mostly used as a park. Especially when it's sunny. Nice and peaceful for a picnic. I figure the dead people don't mind as long as you take your rubbish away after.

 

[PlagueRider]

There's a graveyard in the middle of Oxford (where I was last night) which I've inhabited, and although it is supposedly haunted, with its location I don't suppose a minute goes by without someone walking past it, so they must be some very sneaky apparitions.

Which graveyard is that, Faggus?

As regards to the spooky nature of graveyards, I think a lot has to be put down to film and literature, and the portrayal of dead things lurking between the tombstones at night. I find them very peaceful places, but as the majority of them aren't well lit, if you're a little spooked before entering them you're buggered if you hear some odd noises coming from the shadows. A friend of mine gets a little too paranoid at night in graveyards, and every time we've been on a hunt he's always gotten scared at even the slightest sound, whether it's an owl or a car on a busy road a mile or two away. It gets quite funny sometimes.

 

[James_H]

The one in st. Giles nearer to town. I forget what it's called but it's really decrepid.

 

[PlagueRider]

I know the one you mean. It's right after the split in the roads isn't it. Its funny to think how many graveyards Oxford actually has! .

 

[James_H]

I'm more inclined to be scared of St. Sepulchre's in Jericho, as I nearly had a nasty run in with some people who were apparently smoking crack there recently. Something interesting I found out about that one is that although regular burials have long since stopped there, a lady was buried in 200-, next to her husband, who died in 193-

 

[PlagueRider]

Any reason why you frequent the graveyards in this lovely city of ours?

 

[James_H]

Not to smoke crack, that's for sure!

 

[tattooted]

Southern Iowa Cemetery Crawl

Do the Brits have anything like the American Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor the dead? Ostensibly it's to honor our war dead, but for most families I know, all nearby family graves are visited and decorated with flowers.

Every year the living generations of my family tour the graves of our deceased in cemeteries spread over 3 counties in southern Iowa. Most of these cemeteries are little visited country places. My favorite is in Melrose (Little Ireland), Iowa. It's set up on a high hill which would have been hell to pull a body up, even with a horse-drawn wagon. The sight of hundreds of yellow iris bobbing their heads in the country wind is something I look forward to every year.

For me country cemeteries are a place where, ironically, the history of my family comes alive--the rows of the scarlet fever stricken infants, the governent issued markers showing the young men lost in wars, the man buried between two wives, having married the sister of the first when she died at an early age.

I have never had an even curious incident occur at a cemetery. But maybe it's because I only visit these once a year? My cousin did groundskeeping for one of the ones we visit every year and he spoke of a place that none of the employees liked to mow, because the engine would cut off and the driver would be stricken with a sudden chill and their sight would get slightly dim, like the sun had just went behind a cloud. This sensation would last a few minutes at most, then when it passed the worker could start the mower again.

If you ever go to Osceola, IA and you want to check this out, go to the side of the cemetery that's east of the dividing road. On the south side of this area, look for a cluster of much older graves beneath a stand of trees. If I remember correctly, there were a number of those unmarked children graves, where the stone (gypsum?) is so weathered you can't read the engraving any longer.

Last time I was there I sort of sidled close to the area, but didn't actually walk among the graves. I love supposedly true ghost stories, but even better love them to happen to other people.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah. The local cemetary at the top of my road is mostly used as a park. Especially when it's sunny. Nice and peaceful for a picnic. I figure the dead people don't mind as long as you take your rubbish away after.

Oh, I'm sure the dead don't mind. But their relatives might.

Of course any interesting fortean thingies will be duly reported, but they'll better hurry up happening 'cos I'm leaving work in a week. It's a summer-break-job, but I've had it for years. However, the track record is quite bad... The only thing we've got is a telephone with a tendency to ring even if no one has called us and even that have stopped now.

 

[Anonymous]

i always found Roby graveyard a very scary place. even as an adult who doesn't beleive i ghost it still gives me the creeps!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Southern Iowa Cemetery Crawl

Do the Brits have anything like the American Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor the dead?

We've got quite a few national days for the war dead, and loads of individual regions and tiny hamlets have their own traditions and ceremony things.

There's a great grave yard near where I live, in the middl eof a forest, abandoned and overgrown, it's great.

 

[PlagueRider]

Re: Re: Southern Iowa Cemetery Crawl

There's a great grave yard near where I live, in the middl eof a forest, abandoned and overgrown, it's great.

Whereabouts?

 

[SniperK2]

The teeny village where I grew up didn't have the graveyard by the church but at one end of the village, I never knew why. My mother did have a fright at a graveyard one summer day, suddenly overcome with an overpowering sense of cold evil, she raced back to the car and had a tot of brandly pressed on her when she got home. I've never so far felt anything like this, or been to the one where she had the experience, and it's not far away. My village school playground was adjacent to the graveyard, so I think I got used to it over a few years.

 

[rynner2]

Here's an opportunity for graveyard fans...

No grave concern over chapel sale

The buyer of a Cornish hideaway will get an unusual bonus as part of the sale - their own graveyard.
The former Methodist chapel in the hamlet of Tregeare, near Launceston, has gone on sale for £125,000.

Whoever buys the 19th Century building will have to walk past about 40 tombstones to reach the front door.

Three remaining plots have been reserved for locals, so the new owners could even see funerals being held in their garden at a future date.

'So peaceful'

The agents handling the sale admitted having a graveyard for a garden would not appeal to everyone.

Valerie Taylor, manager of Bradley's estate agents, said: "A lot of people are very nervous even if they live near a graveyard, let alone right next to one.

"But it is so peaceful - there is nothing beyond it except countryside."

The chapel itself has planning consent to be turned into a three-bedroom house, and it has an adjoining Sunday School which can be made into a two-bedroom holiday home.

BBC

 

[cherryhinton]

Ooh, I'm not sure I'd want a house actually in a graveyard like Rynner just posted about. But I live in a flat opposite a very beautiful old cemetery, and I love it, despite originally worrying I was going to find it a bit creepy. The cemetery is Victorian, with an amazing Egyptian-style front entrance, which is opposite my front window. The place was derelict until a few years ago, when local volunteers cleaned it up somewhat, and it's now kept as a nature reserve, lots of interesting plants, birds and butterflies in there. Local organisations hold nature walks and even "children's fun days" - all last summer there were brightly coloured papier mache insects fixed to the gates, which kids had made on a nature exploration day! There's an unbelievably spooky derelict gothic chapel in the middle, and some fabulous gravestones and tombs, though sadly many have been vandalised over the years. This area of London was at one time a haven for religious nonconformists, so there are quite a few interesting people buried there.
I've only ever had one odd incident in there, last week in a part of the cemetery I'd never visited before (it's huge), when I had such a strong sensation of someone being behind me, I actually held my front door open for them when I went back indoors.
Although there's a general assumption round here that the cemetery is vaguely "haunted", nobody know who or what by, and I can't find any stories of any specific ghosts or sightings.