CLIFFE

34, DARENTH; 35, KINGSDOWN

36, FAWKHAM; 37, SWANSCOMBE

38, ASHFORD; 39, COOLING

40, HENDON; 41, EAST WICKHAM

42, SNARGATE; 43, EAST HAM

44, WILMINGTON; 45, WANSTEAD; 46, SOUTHFLEET; 47, WILMINGTON

48, LEWISHAM; 49, BUNHILL FIELDS

50, WOOLWICH; 51, LONGFIELD

52, LYDD; 53, BERMONDSEY

54, RICHMOND; 55, RIPLEY

56, COBHAM; 57, BARNES

58, FRINDSBURY; 59, SUTTON AT HONE

60, BROMLEY; 61, BECKENHAM

62, GREEENFORD; 63, WEST HAM

64, LEE; 65, ORPINGTON

66, ST. MARY CRAY; 67, ST. PAUL'S CRAY

68, FOOT'S CRAY; 69, BEXLEY

70, BARKING; 71, WOOLWICH

72, DEPTFORD; 73, WEST HAM

74, AND 75, WANSTEAD

76, WALTHAMSTOW; 77, BROXBOURNE

78, STAPLEFORD TAWNEY; 79, SHORNE

80, BETHNAL GREEN; 81, PLUMSTEAD

82, CHESHUNT; 83, HATFIELD

84, NORTHOLT; 85, TWICKENHAM

86, HIGH BARNET; 87, KINGSTON-ON-THAMES

88, SWORDS

89, DROGHEDA

90, BANGOR; 91, MUCKROSS AND QUEENSTOWN

92, INVERNESS; 93, BRAEMAR

94, STIRLING

95, BLAIRGOWRIE

96, LAUFEN

97, NEUHAUSEN

98, HEIDELBERG; 99, LUCERNE

100, THE BRESSAY STONE; 101, LUNNASTING AND KILBAR STONES

PREFACE.

I am a Gravestone Rambler, and I beg you to bear me company.

This Book is not a Sermon. It is a lure to decoy other Ramblers, and
the bait is something to ramble for. It also provides a fresh object
for study.

Old-lore is an evergreen tree with many branches. This is a young
shoot. It is part of an old theme, but is itself new.

Books about Tombs there are many, and volumes of Epitaphs by the
hundred. But of the Common Gravestones--the quaint and curious, often
grotesque, headstones of the churchyard--there is no record.

These gravestones belong to the past, and are hastening to decay. In
one or two centuries none will survive unless they be in Museums.
To preserve the counterfeit presentment of some which remain seems a
duty.

Many may share the quest, but no one has yet come out to start. Let
your servant shew the way.

I begin my book as I began my Rambles, and pursue as I have pursued.

WILLIAM THOMAS VINCENT.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. NEWHAVEN.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2. NEWHAVEN.]

IN SEARCH OF

GRAVESTONES

OLD AND CURIOUS.

CHAPTER I.

OLD GRAVESTONES.

I was sauntering about the churchyard at Newhaven in Sussex, reading
the inscriptions on the tombs, when my eyes fell upon a headstone
somewhat elaborately carved. Although aged, it was in good
preservation, and