The Oldest Stone - Graveyard Rabbit Carnival - January 2011

The topic for the January 2011 edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival was

The oldest stone.

"This topic was submitted by the Association. Post a photograph of the oldest tombstone in your family collection, your local cemetery, or one you just happened to bump into in your Rabbit travels. That would be the oldest burial date!"

I am always amazed that for some reason some headstones stand the test of time, yet others don't.

I submitted for this Carnival, the stones we found whilst on the Isle of Bute in July 2009.

Here is one of my favourite photos from this collection, which shows the mix of Graves stones.

John Matthews & Mary Elizabeth Matthews nee Elstone The Mount Cemetery Guildford

As part of the Family History Writing Challenge I wrote a post relating to the grave of my Great Grandparents, which was mentioned in my Graveyard Rabbit post last month. It occurred to me that the photos below illustrated quite nicely what I meant about graves being neglected and forgotten.

Here are two photos of the grave, the first in 1937 and the second in 2007.