Trish I believe that was the practice/rule in Church Yards . .C of E I know in the English village where i was born and lived, . . The Altar was at the East End the Font at the West.. Belfry End. To enter the church for Bapism the Font end was the beginning'' The "grave stones" face east......the sun rises in the east The inscriptions at the head could be read at the feet.. re: suicides. my understanding the coffin was not brought into church altho' the service could be held. inside... Cemeteries could be different.. **Time has changed many things,, betty ----- Original Message ----- From: "Trev Symonds" <psym8950@bigpond.net.au> To: <aus-nsw@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:43 AM Subject: Re: [AUS-NSW] In ins-and-outs of burial and religion > Hi John, > I thought headstones faced east, ready to greet the dawn on the Day of > Resurrection.to face the final judgment - although I've noticed not all > cemeteries follow the practice, but most older ones do. I've never heard > your theory on suicides being buried in a different direction, I'd be > interested to know if it is true. > And I thought that incriptions on the back of headstones was to respect > those buried there, so you didn't walk over their grave to read the > inscription. > I always learn something from this List, so look forward to reading other > answers you receive. > Cheers > Trish > Nowra NSW > >> But I have another question for people .. why do some (such as Wesleyan >> Methodists) put their inscriptions on the 'back sides' of headstones (the >> western face)? >> Another possible question is why do some few headstones trend not N-S but >> E-W (but I already gather that this may be to signify the person >> committed >> suicide .. is that correct?). >> John > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-NSW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2662 - Release Date: 02/01/10 22:37:00
Hello, I think there might be some rule/tradition in this possible for old churches that were constructed up on top of hills out in relatively rural areas .. and were thereby free to orientate as they wished. In the suburbs, however, churches will be fronting some road or another and the altar will usually face the road, due to how people must walk in the front door, and hence the directions could vary a lot in the suburbs. Cheers, John At 11:31 AM 2/02/2010 +1000, you wrote: >Trish >I believe that was the practice/rule in Church Yards . .C of E >I know in the English village where i was born and lived, . >. The Altar was at the East End the Font at the West.. Belfry End. >To enter the church for Bapism the Font end was the beginning'' > > The "grave stones" face east......the sun rises in the east >The inscriptions at the head could be read at the feet.. > >re: suicides. my understanding the coffin was not brought into church > altho' the service could be held. inside... > Cemeteries could be different.. > >**Time has changed many things,, > >betty > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Trev Symonds" <psym8950@bigpond.net.au> >To: <aus-nsw@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:43 AM >Subject: Re: [AUS-NSW] In ins-and-outs of burial and religion > > >> Hi John, >> I thought headstones faced east, ready to greet the dawn on the Day of >> Resurrection.to face the final judgment - although I've noticed not all >> cemeteries follow the practice, but most older ones do. I've never heard >> your theory on suicides being buried in a different direction, I'd be >> interested to know if it is true. >> And I thought that incriptions on the back of headstones was to respect >> those buried there, so you didn't walk over their grave to read the >> inscription. >> I always learn something from this List, so look forward to reading other >> answers you receive. >> Cheers >> Trish >> Nowra NSW >> >>> But I have another question for people .. why do some (such as Wesleyan >>> Methodists) put their inscriptions on the 'back sides' of headstones (the >>> western face)? >>> Another possible question is why do some few headstones trend not N-S but >>> E-W (but I already gather that this may be to signify the person >>> committed >>> suicide .. is that correct?). >>> John >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> AUS-NSW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- > > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2662 - Release Date: 02/01/10 >22:37:00 > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-NSW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >