Friday 10 March 2017
We had another good day typing up Grave Reference Sheets.
Included amongst the survey forms was one for a very small
headstone that is barely legible. But the wonders of RTI reveals the
inscription clearly. This was the memorial to a Belgian refugee of the First World War, who died at the
local Sanatorium.
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| RTI photography reveals the inscription |
The inscription reads:
To the memory of Leopold Joseph Van Duyvenboden, Died Nov.
28th 1917, Aged 22 Years.
Belgian Refugee since Feb. 1915, & late guest of the
Walton le Dale Wesleyan Congregation.
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| Leopold's headstone in its lichen-cover obscurity |
This plain, unassuming little headstone is a wonderful piece
of social and local history – At once we are drawn into not only an emotional
response to the death of this young man, in a strange country, but our interest
is piqued by a series of issues & questions that we must follow up.
We know he died at the Eastby Sanatorium which was
established by Bradford Corporation to care for tuberculosis patients – the
history of this convalescent home is quite well researched already. But, so
far as we know, this is the only memorial in the local churchyard to a patient from outside the parish who died
there.
What was Leopold’s own story – where did he flee from? And
how did he arrive in England? How does his personal story fit in with the story
of the thousands of Belgian refugees who fled to England at the start of the
First World War?
What part did the Walton le Dale Wesleyan chapel play in
taking him in? And why is he not buried in that part of the world? Who came to
his funeral here in Embsay? Did he have any family?
We definitely need to find out more.
On Thursday evening, I gave a talk to the Skipton Historical
Society on the iconography of the gravestones – using examples not only from
Embsay, but also churchyards across the
Dales and other parts of the country.
The more I look at the imagery the more fascinating it
becomes, particularly when I compare what is popular in different areas, how
choices of the type of motifs changed over time, or was affected by religious
affiliation.
Even though the imagery and styles of gravestones in Embsay
churchyard are relatively modest and conservative, by comparison with some
other burial sites, there is still much of great interest here.
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| The fruit and flower covered Tait memorial, 1858 |
The Tait memorial, for example, with its cornucopia of
sculpted fruits and flowers, as a testament to his grief over the death of his
wife and two babies. It not only gives us an insight into his personal
feelings, but also into his religious beliefs – as a member of the New
Jerusalem Church he would have been very aware of the symbolism of plants as
expounded by the church’s founder, Emanuel Swedenborg (1668-1772). Hence the
elaborate imagery.
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| Broken flower bud on Tait memorial - for the loss of a young child |
The audience at the Skipton History Society, were very
appreciative, which was nice, and had plenty of questions at the end of the
talk, which is always gratifying. I hope many of them will be encouraged to
look at churchyards with fresh eyes.
Jane Lunnon
