10 Reasons Why You Should Visit Burying Grounds

Our business has dedicated a lot of time to saving burying grounds and their gravestones. Unsurprisingly, we love them. As a gravestone conservator, I often find myself lost in thought while working on a stone repair or full of wonder while wandering around trying to get the perfect photo to share with like-minded taphophiles on social media. Even when I go to a new place, I seek out burying grounds to visit whether or not I plan on ever working there.

On the off chance that you have stumbled upon this article after a lifetime of being convinced that burying grounds are scary and spooky places. I want to share with you why I love visiting them and why I don’t think they are spooky at all. Well, maybe sometimes they are. (For that, I put together an article about the strangest things people have seen in cemeteries).

Without further adieu, let’s grab our sunblock, our bug spray, a notebook, a camera, and lunch and let’s go to the burying ground!

Finding Your Ancestors. Burying Grounds offer the unique opportunity to visit some of the ancestors you have only heard about in stories or read about online. If they were buried in a burying ground and their grave was marked with a carved stone, you stand a chance of learning something new about your ancestor and the time they lived in through studying their gravestone. There are online resources you may want to check out that will help you locate a particular grave. Start by looking for a map and then look them up on FindaGrave.com.
Appreciating art. Some of the earliest forms of artistic expression formed around memorializing the dead. Looking at gravestones gives you insight into arristoc styles and cultural attitudes of the time. Be it a darl slate stone with skulls or a white marble monument with an urn, grave markers reflecf the beliefs of those who lived then. You can also tell the carvers apart from their styles. Getting to know the carvers is getting to know some of the earliest artists in the colonies.
Studying old language. There was no uniform spelling in the colonies, and many of the ways language was used and written do not exist anymore. Reading gravestones and the word choices on them offer a glimpse into the world our ancestors lived in and how they viewed and wanted to represent those in their families. With their misspellings, they also might make you feel better about your own typos.
Enjoying Nature. Even a well landscaped burying ground offers a respite for animals and a place for plants to grow. Oftentimes, in a city, a burying ground is the only greenspace in a neighborhood. They are great places to learn how to identify trees. Sometimes cemeteries double as arboretums. A quick search may bring up maps of trees in some if your cemeteries to make your stroll that much more educational.
A quiet place. Visiting a burying ground may offer you the break from the noise of the world that you are looking for. Who doesn’t think better when they have had a minute to reset? Visiting a cemetery for the purpose of meditation is a wonderful idea and may just give you the space to reenter society with new ideas.
A nice walk. In our work from home culture, it is easy for some to feel tethered to their screens. Also, with the economy the way it is, leaving the house can get expensive. Burying grounds offer us a place to stretch our legs, meet up with friends, and not spend a penny. Exploring a burying ground is a great way to get out and get moving. Especially if you are someone who likes to get up and down to read the stones (just don’t use them to steady yourself… they are fragile).
Gaining perspective. If you need a reminder to make the most of every day, a burying ground is the place for that. Surrounded by the graves of people who lived to varying ages may be the Memento Mori you need. It is also good to acknowledge how much progress we have made as a society. Too often, people romanticize the past and think that things were better then. It is not true.
Solving mysteries. Gravestones will give you more questions than answers. Why did they choose that inscription. Who is this person buried nearby? Getting online and solving these mysteries is rewarding. That is where sites like Ancestry.com or trips to the history room at your local library or museum come in. It may become the epic adventure you didn’t know you needed. Allow yourself to get caught up in the mysteries of the past. Solving them is a great way to spend the cold New England winter.
Learning about history. Not everyone feels engaged by large books compiled by people who may not have cared about the same things as them. Some people need to see things in person to feel engaged. Books are great, but for some, a visit to an historical site like a burying ground is the best way for them to feel personally invested in their local history. Write your own book! This leads me to number 10.
Getting inspired. Allowing your visit to inspire your art, poetry, music, and writing is a great way to honor your ancestors and your own place in history. Allowing yourself to make work inspired by the topic of death will make you part of a legacy of writers and artists who have throughout history explored the topic in their own work.