You never know what little gems you might find in a country churchyard and I discovered one while exploring in Staplehurst in 2019. All Saints church has a commanding hilltop position and looks down on the pretty half-timbered houses of the village. Since 1100 it has stood on this site and has several ancient features. These include the remnants of an anchorite’s cell. This was a medieval form of penance in which the anchorite would live in a very small cell, if the size of the remaining floor of the cell is to be believed, and lived on offerings that parishioners and others would pass through a window set into the church and the cell. The offering window is still there. All I could think of was how cold it must have been in winter and how did they deal with their waste products. They were effectively hermits and were declared as being dead to the world. It was the Reformation brought the anchorite life to a close. There is also a wooden door to the side of All Saints that has been definitively dated to 1050 and features scenes from Norse legends. I could find no explanation for pagan elements being incorporated in a consecrated building and so it was very intriguing. Why here?
The churchyard was far larger than I expected and led to a more modern section at the back of the church. But as I explored the older part of the churchyard I turned around and came face to face with this unusual symbol on a white headstone.
It’s dedicated to Alice Stone, wife of James Stone of Sheerness. There is no date of birth recorded but she died on 5 February 1787 aged 27. Alice may have died in childbirth which was a frequent cause of death for women in past eras or maybe she was a victim of an epidemic. We’ll never know. However, there is some barely legible lettering above the inscription which I have been unable to sufficiently enhance in order to read it so this may well warrant a second visit.
The scene at the top of the tombstone is almost like a miniature Doom painting. My interpretation of it is that it’s Judgement Day and the deceased has awoken from their eternal slumber. They appear to be in a burial chamber and lying on a ledge or on a shelf within a vault. They have partly cast off their burial clothes and appear to be slightly decayed. Ribs are visible and the head appears skull-like.
But where are they destined to go next? What will be their fate?
There’s only the choice of two final destinations for them – Heaven or Hell which are depicted on either side of the figure.
On the right hand side of the carving as you face it, is a magnificently winged demon, or The Devil himself, standing over a grinning skeleton whose crown has fallen from his head. The crown is a very significant symbol in that it can indicate the passage from the earthly life into the divine and I have written it about in a previous Symbol of the Month. The demonic figure appears to be holding what looks like a besom or maybe it is a three pronged fork or even a large arrow. Although there are no flames, here the Devil is triumphant in his domain.
On the left-hand side, an angel appears to be floating within clouds while blowing a large trumpet in the direction of the newly awoken deceased. Underneath the angel is a brick house with an entrance or a small narrow gateway (I have to say the entrance does resemble a fireplace). I interpret this as being a depiction of God’s House and there are numerous references to it within the Bible and also in Genesis 28: 16-17:
‘When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought,
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
It was difficult to find a specific Biblical verse that mentioned the Devil and Hell but I did find a reference in Matthew 10:28 :
‘And fear not them which kill the body,
But are not able to kill the soul:
But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’
(King James Version)
I am not a particularly religious person but the parishioners of All Saints at the time would have recognised the quotations.
The scene would have been a prompt to the passing viewer or mourner to live their lives in a righteous manner or face the alternative for eternity. It’s very dramatic and, as Alice died at an early age, this reminder would have very pertinent at a time when the average life expectancy was far lower.
So far I have not been able to find out more about Alice or James but for now she rests within part of the quintessential English country churchyard. She’s amongst ancient stones, some protected or obscured by mosses and lichens, and the bright wildflowers of late Spring. However, I would like to know more about her and what may have inspired the little scene on her headstone.
R I P Alice Stone.
Since I wrote this post I have discovered other versions of ‘The Choice’ in various North Kent churchyards. There is a weathered one in the churchyard of St Nicholas at Strood and no less than 5 versions, all by different stone masons, in St Mary the Virgin’s graveyard in Newington Kent.
One of the five versions of the ‘The Choice’ seen in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Newington, Kent. ©Carole Tyrrell.
Another version from St Mary the Virgin’s churchyard in Newington, Kent. ©Carole Tyrrell
©Text and images Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated
shadows fly away 