At the cemetery: Symbolism trail Southern Cemetery
Trail 1: Student recording sheet.
Start this trail at the car park in the Southern Cemetery. Turn to your
right and walk up the road
Not far up the road on your left you will see this
ornament on a memorial.
This headstone shape is called a stele. List all the decorative
symbols you can see on this headstone.
1. _______________________________
2. _______________________________
3. _______________________________
What is the name of the person who is buried here?
Walk on up the road and find this stele.
List all the decorations you can see on this stele.
1. _______________________________
2. _______________________________
How many people are listed on this headstone?
__________________________________________________
How many generations have their names listed?
__________________________________________________
Is everyone listed on the headstone buried here?
_________________________________________________
Why do you think a tree symbol was used on this headstone?
_______________________________________________
At the cemetery: Symbolism trail Southern Cemetery
Trail 1: Recording sheet - Page 2
On your right you can see a small memorial on
the corner of the block.
What are the symbols you can see on this headstone?
1. _______________________________________
2. _______________________________________
Who erected this memorial and why?
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
On your left again as you walk up the road you will
notice another scroll. Take a picture of it.
On your right find the tall memorial with the name
PYKE. What are the symbols you notice on this memorial?
1. _________________________________________
2. _________________________________________
3. _________________________________________
This memorial is called a pedestal. How many sides of this
memorial have inscriptions? ________________________
Turn into the grassed path on your right. On
your left is a memorial for Louisa Irwin and
Julia Finch.
What are the symbols you notice on this memorial?
1.
__________________________________________
2.__________________________________________
Who is the last person listed on the headstone?
___________________________________________
This is plot is quite large. How do you know how large
the plot is?
___________________________________________
This symbol is called a Celtic Cross.
What is different about this cross
from the usual cross we see?
____________________________
At the Southern Cemetery: Symbolism Trail
Trail 1: Student worksheet. Page 2
Stand by the gate with your back to the Finch and Irwin Memorial. Turn around on the
spot slowly and count the number of crosses you can see altogether from this
spot._____________
Return to the road and carry on up the road until you meet a wide
grass path. Turn left into the grass path and look back the way you
came. You should see the stele pictured here.
The shape of this stele is called gothic because it has a curved
arch at the top. There is a lot of religious meaning in the decorations
of this headstone.
List the decorations you can see on this stele.
1. ____________________________________
2. ____________________________________
When you read the words on the headstone you can tell what
has happened. Who has died and who is grieving for whom?
On the top and near the base there are two sayings. These
are called epitaphs. Write down the two epitaphs on this
headstone.
1. __________________________________________
2. __________________________________________
Where do you think the sayings may come from?
__________________________________________________________
At the Southern Cemetery: Symbolism Trail
Trail 1: Student worksheet. Page 3
8. Carry on along the road and find the very tall memorial with the following decoration. It is
on your right.
The decorations on this headstone are about the
work that these men did when they were alive.
What do you think their job was?
_________________________________________
What are the symbols of work that you can see on this
headstone?
1. _____________________________
2. ______________________
3. _______________________
4. _______________________
This memorial is made of a very soft stone. What do you think has happened to
the inscription?
Turn around and walk back down the road following the
direction you came. Walk past the Hodgson headstone
visited in Activity number 6 and turn tight into the narrow
grass path. Find the stele with the decoration in the picture.
Who is commemorated?___________________________
Why do you think the cross symbol is found on so many graves
in the cemetery?
______________________________________________
Keep walking down the grass path in the direction of the car park. On your left you will see
a white stele lying on its back.
At the Southern Cemetery: Symbolism Trail
Trail 1: Student worksheet. Page 4
Look at the beautiful decoration at the top of
this headstone.
Space for your drawing
What does the symbol look like? __________
______________________________________
Take a picture or make a drawing of the symbol and
check your guide book for meaning.
This headstone also tells us what this man did? What
was his job? ______________________
There are some interesting words on this headstone.
What do you think, “went home” and “entered into rest”
might mean?
Keep walking along the grass path. There is
another stele with hands on your right.
List the symbols you can see on this headstone?
1. _____________________________________
2. _____________________________________
3. _____________________________________
4. _____________________________________
Estimate from the wording on the headstone how old
this stele is.
___________________________________________
Find this symbol in the stele. It is called the
passionflower and had strong religious meaning.
Find out what each of the parts of the flower
mean to Victorians Check out your guide
booklet!
At the Southern Cemetery: Symbolism Trail
Trail 1: Student worksheet. Page 5
Turn into the grass path on your left. Stop at the tall memorial
which in on your left. This memorial is called an obelisk.
When you stand on the grass path you are looking at the west face of the
memorial. Circle those sides of the memorial that have an inscription on
them?
North
South
East
West
Walk further along the grass path
and stop at the headstone that looks
like a pile of stones. List the different
decorations you see on this headstone.
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
In this headstone even the stone it is made
from has a hidden meaning. The headstone is
made of a white stone called marble and like
the flowers on the headstone symbolises
purity. Look for this symbol on the
headstone. The flower is called
the lily and is associated with the
Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. The
whiteness and fragrance of the
flower symbolises her purity.
Keep walking along the grass path until you see
another stele on your right with a hand.
What is different about the hand decoration on this stele compared
with the others you have seen?
________________________________________________
What is the same? _________________________________
_________________________________________________
Work out how old this stele could be?
_________________________________________________
At the Southern Cemetery: Symbolism Trail
Trail 1: Student worksheet. Page 6
15. Turn around and come back along the grass path.
Stop and have a look at the headstone on the corner
on your right.
Who is commemorated?
________________________________________________
Who built the headstone?
_______________________________________________
Have a close look at the top of the headstone. Most of the
decoration is missing. What do you think the decoration might
have been?
__________________________________________________
Keep on the grass path and walk to towards the car
park. On your left is the Skipworth headstone. It
stands out because some of it has been cleaned.
List the decorations you see on this headstone.
1. __________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________
This shape of headstone is called a pedestal.
Stop and have a look at the inscription on another
headstone with hands decoration just past the Skipworth
headstone.
Inscriptions sometimes tell us quite a lot about the person buried.
Where did the person buried here come from? ______________________________________
Keep walking down the grass path towards a stele with a white painted back. Look
closely at the headstone.
Why do you think this stele has got a metal back to it? Where did the person buried here come from? ______________________________________
At the Southern Cemetery: Symbolism Trail
Trail 1: Student worksheet. Page 7
There are quite a few hands to be seen in this part of the cemetery. Look around.
See if you can spot another headstone with hands.
When you do look closely to see who the person is who is listed on this headstone?
___________________________________________________________________________
Walk a little further along the grass track. You
will see two headstones with the same kind of
decoration on the right and left sides of the path.
What are these decorations?
___________________________________________
Look carefully at the lettering. What is happening to it?
_______________________________________________
Stand and look at the book headstone on your left. Behind
it there is a tree and a small headstone on the other side
of the tree. Keep to the grass paths and go around and
have a look at this headstone.
What is the decoration on this stone?
__________________________________________
What does the inscription say?
__________________________________________
The wording does not tell us much, but this whole memorial
shows a lot of grief and emotion. What can you guess
about who lies here based on this memorial?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________