Cemetery Symbolism
Our second planned exhibition for 2020 was called Pestilence in Plymouth but I really can't bring myself to share that.
I think that we have enough of that going on outside at the moment so instead, over the next few weeks I am going to share an exhibition that the Heritage Team prepared back in 2014 which was about the symbolism used on headstones throughout the cemetery.
I hope that you will find it interesting.
Our first poster focuses on naval connections and the way in which the anchor had been used on many headstones in the cemetery.
Our next poster focuses on angels as heaven's messengers
A second poster about the angels that have been used as headstones in the cemetery
Our next poster shows how grieving relatives have used symbols on their loved one's headstones to commemorate family links
Today's poster highlights the use of birds on headstones in the cemetery.
Many different flowers were used on headstones with different meanings for each flower. On our poster today we have focussed on four flowers, the rose, the daisy, the lily and the passion flower
From flowers to plants, our poster today features the use of Willow, Ivy, Oak and Grapes and explains why you will find the same designs on multiple headstones throughout the cemetery.
Today we feature some of the headstones that mention organisations or societies
There are, of course, nearly 1,000 Commonwealth War Graves scattered throughout the cemetery but for our military theme we have chosen primarily family headstones. And, yes, I know that the Salvation Army is religious rather than military but the wonderful work that they carried out for our civilians and armed services during World War 2 when they joined the UK Council of Voluntary Welfare Workers, warranted being featured here
Today's poster examines some of the classical designs that we find around the cemetery
Our final three posters for the Symbolism exhibition focus on the use of religious symbols on headstones under the headings of Faith, Hope and Charity. Today - Faith.
Our penultimate poster for this exhibition is Hope
So, we come to the final poster of our Symbolism exhibition - Charity