Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Mystery

Since the snow has departed my posts have dried up a little, but while wandering around a graveyard (like I seem to do far too often to be healthy) I found this tomb.  Partially hidden away behind some trees, possibly planted to try and shelter it from the elements which have all but destroyed most of the figures carved on it.  I'm not sure how rare these outside tombs are, but I've never seen one like it (and I've been around a fair few churchyards!).  I can't find any information about it at all.  The hands of the two figures are tied above their heads (the rest of the bodies out of the photo is entirely eroded away), but again I can't find anything about the meaning of this.   

It is in the south facing side of St Peters Church in Langley Burrell, a 9th century Saxon church with medieval modifications.  Searching for information on "medieval" and "hands tied" immediately brings up the subject of torture, with a few mentions of the persecution of witchcraft (16th century).  It would seem obvious that this is not a tomb of a saint, priest or knight, and the fact that it is outside, on display, seems strange too.  I wonder who they were, what they did and why they were portrayed as tied up...


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