Monday 27 July 2009

A Boy with a Lamb

About three weeks ago, I visited Blackpool and, while there, I took the opportunity to visit the former fishing port of Fleetwood. The town has a large cemetery which is the oldest and largest cemetery in the Borough of Wyre. It opened in 1841 with the first listed burial taking place in 1845.

The cemetery covers 16.9 acres and contains areas for Church of England, Non-Conformist and Roman Catholic interments, with special areas designated for the interment of cremated remains. More recently, a Baby Section and Garden of Remembrance have been created.

I spent three fascinating hours there and can confirm the cemetery's graves are a rich source of grave art and symbolism. From time to time, I will share some of what I found in the pages of this blog.

One of the most striking memorials is in memory of a five-year-old boy, Ian Donald Murray, who died August 4, 1935. The grave is topped by the seated figure of a child. A lamb is sat beside him and he is cuddling it. It is possible that the figure is based on a likeness of the deceased child, but the representation looks older than a child of five. What minor catastrophe struck the grave, I do not know, but the feet of the figure are missing.


8 comments:

dustbunny8 said...

This is a wonderful statue,looking forward to seeing more from here,thanks!

Laurie said...

Thank you, Tina. Glad you liked it.
Best wishes
Laurie

Gale Wall said...

Oh, my! Another great stone. I too am looking forward to seeing more.

Cathy said...

Not a very good carving in my humblest of opinions lol it does look rather juvenile - maybe that was the point? Anyway the lamb is the constant symbol of innocence and belongs with this small child who went on to the next journey after a mere blink in time.

GYPSYWOMAN said...

such a poignant visual story - and, like cathy, i've always heard the lamb associated with innocence and children in graveyards - beautiful post!

Unknown said...

When I was growing up (a long time ago now lol) I was told Donald and his dog had drowned in the River Wyre. The sculptor couldn't carve a dog, so carved a lamb instead.( which I think is highly unlikely) The Lamb is also a symbol of Jesus The Shepard. We used to visit every Sunday and lay flowers on families graves. I also used to fill the bird bath with water every week on the grave at the front ,and to the right of the Chapel

Lâm CPHACO said...

A nice story. And nice tomb. everyone can see more beautyful tombstone at Here

Anonymous said...

As a child of 4 I use to play with my brother in that cemetery and I remember sitting with Ian and talking to him. now I'm 62 and the memories flood back of the fishing village Fleetwood where I was born, where my father was an Icelandic fisherman and my mother sewed and repaired nets. Rip: Ian Donald Murray

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