wenham cemetery

whilst driving home on rt. 1A after visiting LVQ on the farm, i stopped at a spot i've been eyeing for a while: the wenham cemetery. it's right across from a lovely pond, near lots of gorgeous land preserves (one of which still had some fiddleheads lurking), and en route to glorious crane beach. i mostly looked at the very oldest stones, admiring winged skulls and memento mori references...
the semantic contrast between "here lies buried" and "sacred to the memory of" came about at a time when bodies might not occupy a grave (due to, among other things, foreign wars or being lost at sea) and when memory and mourning increased in importance alongside the physical burial site.
one of the chaps mowing the lawn pointed out this stone, commemorating someone that died in 1838 due, in some part, to "the" railroad:
several stones were obituaries/resumes of sorts, listing schools and superlatives:


an ode to the rural cemetery:

and right at the entrance, a blanket memorial for those unnamed: