Old New England Cemetery: Burial Hill

Posted on | October 29, 2009 | 11 Comments

In honor of Halloween I took some photos of Old Burial Hill in Marblehead. The cemetery established in 1638 is one of the oldest graveyards in New England. Headstones are perched high above the colonial village with views of the nearby ocean. Six hundred revolutionary war heroes as well as notable Marblehead families are buried here. The headstones vary many displaying skulls and angels with wings. The winged skull was popularized by the puritans and is one of the oldest styles of gravestone markings. The scrolling lines and imagery are beautiful examples of art from the 17th and 18th century. Below just a few of my favorites.

p.s. in the october issue of Martha Stewart Living there is an article about New England graveyards. Check it on the writer’s site.

Category: marblehead

Comments

11 Responses to “Old New England Cemetery: Burial Hill”

ECA
October 30th, 2009 @ 12:20 pm

Great photos! I work in Salem and took a walk through one of the cemeteries here at lunch yesterday and it was just beautiful.
jessica / miniature rhino
October 30th, 2009 @ 3:37 pm

i used to live in upstate ny and would love to wander the graveyards. being from the west coast, east coast graveyards are so beautiful and full of history… thanks for sharing these!
Brittany Noel
October 30th, 2009 @ 7:56 pm

These headstones are so beautiful. We have pretty old ones here (some in the 1700s), but nothing as old or as beautiful as you have over there.
Pamela
October 30th, 2009 @ 10:47 pm

I’ve always loved the old winged skull gravestones! We don’t have anything that old here in Chicago. Looks like you had a beautiful fall day.
olivia rae.
October 31st, 2009 @ 9:32 am

these photos are stunning! i am itching for a beautiful fall with red leaves since it’s still 80 degrees where i live. your blog is lovely!! xo
erin
October 31st, 2009 @ 4:23 pm

gorgeous photos of an incredible graveyard. happy halloween!
Rebecca
November 1st, 2009 @ 4:37 pm

Very cool gravestones. It’s amazing how young everyone died back then.
Katy Elliott
November 2nd, 2009 @ 1:36 pm

Thanks everyone for you nice comments. Who knew graveyards could be so beautiful and magical?
marbleheadforever
November 2nd, 2009 @ 10:21 pm

Katy, Once you get started wandering through these old cemetaries, it’s addictive. The Granary in Boston is another good one, as is the one in Salem. There are many good books out there for researching the symbolism of the headstones. My husband and I spent our honeymoon going through cemetaries in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hamsphire, Connecticut and Maine! It’s fascinating to put families together, and notice the dates…when entire families died, probably from some flu or illness. Also fascinating to see husbands buried next to first and second wives.
James Meritt
December 8th, 2009 @ 3:32 pm

Do you have a picture of the full tombstone (including the Death’s Head top and the front notation) for James Meritt (burind there) as depicted (though just the top) at http://www.oldburialhill.org/pond/pond_cluster_03a.html? I’m trying to get a photograph.
Anonymous
December 11th, 2009 @ 9:35 pm

i love ghost hunting