Photo-a-Day (Sunday, 16th June, 2024)
Bolder and Stone Sarcophagus
No date of origin given for either but the granite bolder could have been carried from much further north by glaciers in a previous Ice. Hence the smooth and polished texture.
The stone sarcophagus is very similar to the one I have seen at Whitby Abbey with carved recess to receive the head which dates from the 7th Century.
Photo: Colin Traynor (iPhone)
Interesting photo Colin but where are they?and hopefully that trough doesn’t get full today as I’m off cycling now.
Where is it situated please, Colin?
Correction: Boulder not Bolder!!!!!
It’s located just to the left of the entrance to St Wilfrid’s Church Standish.
As I type this, the bells have just started ringing for the 10:00 Service. Very uplifting and just what Sunday morning should sound like.
Werer is it???? or is it a guessing game.?
It looks like my comment hasn’t appeared. The last time this sarcophagus came on PaD the receptacle was filled with Spring flowers. I recall on holiday in Santorini excavations were going on in the south of the island. The boulders found were tested and it was discovered they had rumbled their way over land a sea from Ireland or all places. The Irish do get everywhere though! True adventurers, I think that’s where I get my sense of adventure from!
Could be that the Sarcophagus pre dates the church itself and there was an early Celtic Christian Community in the area in the 7th Century that followed a slightly different orthodoxy to mainstream Roman Catholicism. This being the era of St Wilfrid.
You can see similar graves cut into solid rock near the church overlooking the sea at Heysham , there are also many Celtic symbols around that Church.
Veronica, they have indeed planted it with flowers since I took the picture.
If that's a sarcophagus it must have been for a very small person.
I'd say it was an ancient plant-pot (of which there are many on here)
Mors Est Inevitabilis
John Noakes, thanks for raising this, being only too happy to oblige, I have just been back and measured it.
Internal dimension head to toe 73 inches which in old money is also 6ft - 1inch. I was going to lie down in it but the Mayor of Wigan was about to go into the church.
That would have been a laugh if the Civic Dignitaries walked through the Peace Gate and saw me my on my back. I could have popped up camera in hand and said 'Smile Please, your on Wigan World'. That would have been a good one for pad.
Vigilate ergo quia necsitis diem neque horam mors inevitabilis est hora eius.
The correct Latin phrase would be Mors Inevitabile Est. Mors in a 3rd neuter noun.
That must include you too John Noakes ..
WN6 I’ve seen those 6 graves cut out of stone many times up by St Peter’s church at Heysham.
Veni , Vidi , Vici … Funny old language this Latin innit ? … Hic , Haec , Hoc . See what I mean ?
Still , hardly surprising really considering the country from which it originates .
A nation whose alphabet appears to consist of 21 vowels and 5 consonants … whose excitable population seem to spend most of their time either shouting , gesticulating and waving their arms about in general , or weaving in and out of the traffic in a perilous fashion on their ubiquitous Vespas .
A country that appears to close down entirely every few days for a religious holiday .
Whose border control staff pre-Schengen wouldn’t even consider processing one’s paperwork without greasing their already greasy palms with a sleeve of 200 Marlboro .
….The exchange rate of whose barmpot pre-euro currency hovered somewhere around the 6 million lira to the GB pound mark … o.k. a bit of an exaggeration there I’ll admit .
But to be fair , on the plus side , the sun does shine quite a lot in Italy and ice cream is always readily available , providing you’re prepared to re-mortgage your house in order to pay for it that is … But even better than that , it’s situated right next door to the finest country in the world .
France … so it’s relatively easy to escape back into civilisation . An action that I’ve succumbed to doing on more than one occasion.
In Vino Veritas … In Aqua Sanitas .
Oh ! and a good half of their houses , the ones that haven’t yet fallen down , look as though they’re all but ready to .
I took Latin for a year at school, (only because it was compulsory)....what a waste of space! Amo Amas Amat Amamus Amatis Amant. Amo?.....I love? No. I didn't love! I hated it. I learned more Latin in the chemist's shop where I worked on leaving school, (when the dosages of medicines on prescription forms were in Latin), than I ever did at school.
There’s no answer to that Ozy. I do lovea Lasagna and aSpaghetti aBolognaise acooked in athe Italianawaya.
And hear’s me not understanding a word of that Latin after covering 50 miles and wet through ta skin,after a brilliant Father’s Day meal at the China Room wondering when we are all going to get together for a real catchup.
Who would have thought that Colin’s sarcophagus could have caused such Controversy. Rest in peace everyone.
WN6 don’t forget Sambos Grave.