Hand carved Memorials - Simon Burns-Cox

GREENFERRY TRUST AND MEMORIAL

Simon Burns-Cox has recently made a memorial for Mr David Hutcheson which is to be installed at The GreenFerry Trust Garden in South Queensferry near Edinburgh in August 2020.

The purpose of The GreenFerry Trust is to conserve and improve the environment for the benefit of the public. The GreenFerry umbrella includes Hawthorn Bank Walled Garden, Cleanferry and Queensferry planting. Between November 2014 and September 2018, the present GreenFerry Trust was set up to develop Hawthorn Bank Walled Garden which was a derelict site owned by Edinburgh Council. The community elected to have a community garden, and money was raised and a construction company brought in.

OPENING OF THE GREENFERRY GARDEN

In August 2018, there was a ‘soft opening’ once the diggers and dumpers had left. Then there was a ‘Tea in the Garden’ event in September when the community was asked to bring plants from their garden that they no longer wanted. For the rest of that year and throughout 2019, more plants were donated and now the garden looks as if it’s been established for years.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN EDINBURGH SHORELINE EXHIBITION

In June 2019, the garden was selected as one of the projects for The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s Shoreline Exhibition. As part of this, Simon Burns-Cox was asked to carve various words of The GreenFerry Trust’s choosing into the sandstone walls of the garden: Still: Joy: Life: Anicca: and the Eye of Horus.

In the Summer of 2019, a beautiful Mosaic/Mural was erected in front of the back wall of the garden and in January 2020 fruit trees were planted ( apples, pears, black currents, red currents, gooseberries and morello cherries). Recently raised beds have been planted into the Alcove which have been adopted by individuals, the Tom Thumb nursery and the Women’s Institute.

MR DAVID HUTCHESON

In March 2020, The GreenFerry Trust’s dear colleague and friend David Hutcheson died. He was a very active and supportive member of the Queensferry community. He established Cleanferry, organising litter pucks regularly throughout the town. He was involved with Christmas in Queensferry, St Margaret’s primary school, Queensferry planting as well as being on the GreenFerry committee practically from the start.

All the organisations that David was involved with wished to acknowledge his valuable contribution to the community with a plaque. Simon Burns-Cox was approached and agreed to carve David’s catch phrase “Love the land, lose the litter” onto a plaque which was set into the wall in the garden. This will be unveiled by his family at the end of August 2020.

SIMON BURNS-COX SCULPTOR AND LETTER CARVER

Simon Burns-Cox is a Sculptor and Letter Carver based at The Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. He makes bespoke handcarved Gravestones, Memorials, Headstone and Plaques in all sizes and dimensions. If you would like to discuss your requirements further, please contact Simon through his website link below. All work can be done online with detailed drawings available. Simon Burns-Cox can be contact at www.simonburnscox.co.uk or [email protected]

HISTORY OF GRAVESTONES

Gravestones have been around for thousands of years and began when the deceased was buried near the home. The grave was marked with a stele or marker made from stone or wood. This was usually placed over the grave as a mark of respect and to stop the deceased from rising. The gravestone is also referred to as a grave marker, headstone or tombstone. In the case of two graves, it is known as a memorial marker, companion headstone, double deep marker or headstone for two.

Churchyards began in the Norman times when it was recognised that there was money to be made. Bodies were then placed in public cemeteries. The graves were usually marked with simple, slender headstones made from sandstone or slate and were a sign of wealth.

Over time, gravestones became more elaborate. The name, date of birth and death and a message or prayer were often carved into the gravestone. The headstone was made from a range of stones such as fieldstones, granite, marble and limestone, sandstone, slate, or other material such as iron, bronze or wood. Funerary art such as a bas relief carving was used and later on photographs of the deceased where attached to the gravestone which can still be found in Europe. Names of the relatives were often added over the years making a chronological timetable of the passing of the family over the decades.

Headstone by Simon Burns-Cox

TYPES OF GRAVESTONES

Flush or Flat or Lawn-Level Marker which are at ground level

Upright Headstone

Bevel Marker where one side is slightly raised

Slant Marker which is similar to the Bevel Marker but is taller and larger

Ledger Marker which is a thick slab covering the grave

Standard Stone which is a simple tablet set into the ground

Domed Tablet which is a dome-shaped stone

Shoulder Tablet which has an angled top

Gothic Tablet stones or Obelisks which are tall columns.

The tombstone has a stone lid on the stone coffin or, as in the past, on the coffin itself, and the gravestone is a stone slab lying flat while the headstone is upright.

The headstone was placed at the head of the grave but sometimes also at the foot which indicated the length of the grave and respect for the deceased. In pagan times, the gravestone was west facing pointing towards the rising sun but in Christian and Jewish burials they were east facing according to biblical beliefs.

By the late 19th century, The Victorians had more elaborate gravestones made from white marble with detailed symbolic sculptures depicting faith, glory and hope with poignant inscriptions and epitaphs. For example, The Angel of Death, The Dove, Flowers, Horseshoes, and The Weeping Willow. Marble, however, was not a good material for a gravestone as it does not weather well and many of the stones were destroyed by moss or lichen. For this reason, there was a move away from marble to grey granite. Today, there has been a return to the more simple gravestone often lying flat.

Simon Burns-Cox creates beautiful hand carved Gravestones, Memorials and Headstones and offers all types of Stone Letter Carving. He is based at The Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland.

If you would like to discuss your requirements for a Gravestone, Memorial or Headstone, please contact Simon Burns-Cox at [email protected] or visit his website at www.simonburnscox.co.uk

GreenFerry Trust and Memorial