Gravestones, Tombs and Memorials

England's Living History

by Trevor Yorke

A concise well-illustrated guide to the types of funerary memorials to be found in the churchyards of England. Yorke describes the different types of gravestones, effigies and tombs, and gives guidance on development, dating and regional variations. There are also sections on iconography, and on epitaphs.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

64 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 2010

Reviews

[metellus cimber · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I've been an aficionado of graveyards since I was a teenager, and like the author I feel people who like history tend to underestimate how fascinating they are. I learned quite a bit about the evolution of church graveyards, of carvings and conventions from the 16th century onwards. The book does not dig down much (ha ha!) and I would have liked a few stories about the individuals whose gravestones were pictured - especially the unusual ones. The photos weren't great either. Still, it's not a long read and for someone who is just a bit curious and doesn't know much about this fascinating domain, the book would likely be fine.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being obsessed with graveyards and also using them for research purposes, I thought this book would be a more interesting read than it was. However, I think it will become a very useful reference tool for my research.

[LBD · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting small book with information about graveyards and graves, and their changes through the years. Full of reference pictures, although this sometimes makes it feel like it has too much information!

[I Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes you want to go and visit your local cemetery - so that's saying something for it!

As an initial look into Gravestones, Tombs and Memorials this is very good.

I liked that it included a few historic stories of tragedies in it also which the author found out about through discovering the memorials to the people killed in such events.