Five crude gravestones lie by the side of a path on the hillside above Curbar village in Derbyshire. Approaching four hundred years old, they are the graves of the Cundy family, all killed by a local outbreak of plague in 1632. The stones were overgrown and invisible for years until a local woman located and uncovered them in the thirties.
Just above Curbar is a footpath across the fields to Baslow. About 300 yards along this path are the Cundy Graves. The Great Plague came to Curbar in the 17th century, although 30 years prior to the more famous Eyam Plague. The Cundy family were from nearby Grislowfield Farm and perished in 1632. It is not known who buried the family but Thomas and Ada Cundy together with their children Olive, Nellie and young Thomas each have a slab carved with their initials.
Just above Curbar is a footpath across the fields to Baslow. About 300 yards along this path are the Cundy Graves. The Great Plague came to Curbar in the 17th century, although 30 years prior to the more famous Eyam Plague. The Cundy family were from nearby Grislowfield Farm and perished in 1632. It is not known who buried the family but Thomas and Ada Cundy together with their children Olive, Nellie and young Thomas each have a slab carved with their initials.
I hope the kids died first. What a morbid thought that is, but I hope they did. Not that it matters now. Below is a closeup of Ada's grave.
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6 comments:
As more moving monument to the past I can't imagine.
Thud - yes it is moving, more moving than graves in a graveyard would have been.
Quite disturbing although exactly why finding gravestones outside a graveyard is disturbing is a question. The less one thinks about the background and logistics the better.
Agree with Roger - least thought about the better.
Roger - the stones may have been cut out of Baslow Edge which runs above the grave site, then dragged downhill. Somebody still went to a lot of trouble though.
James - it's worth thinking of the courage and effort behind the graves, but beyond that it isn't easy to go.
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