Anonymous epitaph. © Carole Tyrrell

A poignant memorial to a tragic accident – St Laurence in Thanet, Ramsgate, Kent

I was exploring the churchyard of St Laurence in Thanet, in Ramsgate, Kent, when I found this little tombstone.  It’s a deceptive churchyard because as I went behind the building it was actually much larger than it initially appeared.  There are 1400 graves there and it is now closed to burials but there is now a Garden of Remembrance.   The churchyard was consecrated in 1275 which gives you some idea of how long there has been a church on the site.  The oldest known burial has been dated to 1656.

The young woman commemorated here was anonymous at the time of her burial and her epitaph reads:

IN MEMORY

Of a YOUNG LADY, who as

She was walking upon the

CLIFFS

on Oct 4^th 1801

unfortunately fell over

and was killed upon the

Spot.

It was St Laurence’s churchwardens who raised the headstone to her and she was later identified as Louisa Grevis who was the second daughter of Captain Charles James Grevis-James. Louisa was born on 13 August 1773 in Doncaster and died aged 28.

This is all I have been able to find about about her so far.  Although her name isn’t on the headstone, at least she was given a decent burial and remembered. 

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading:

Louisa Grevis (1773-1801) – Find a Grave Memorial

‘Not Lost But Gone Before’ Margaret Bolton, St Laurence in Thanet church leaflet