The Gravestones at Vaynor Churchyard

by Alison Davies

Looking at the old postcard of Vaynor churchyard below there are many different types of headstones, tombs and memorials.

Towards the new church you can see the change in memorial style, size and colour. From the 1850s striking new memorials were made from imported marble and became fashionable, gleaming white in the landscape they caught the eye. Many of these stones still stand but now discoloured with time and not so visible and striking.

In the oldest part of the churchyard below the old church you can see the headstones are plainer, shorter and smaller with the exception of a few more recent stones the headstones are of local stone, limestone, sandstone and Breconshire sandstone known for its beautiful red colour. A small stone of Brecon red sandstone quarried from the edge of Pontsticill with Llandetty marks the grave of Nicholas David of Pontysticill Smith (Smithy) who died 1786 aged 74.

Although the role of a headstone was to mark the burial spot and record the departed, today they tell us so much more about local history, geology and the relationship to the landscape around. We can now also distinguish the type of stones used, their design the symbols, their meanings and the style of lettering, it’s like piecing together a jig-saw puzzle.

Although there has been a church on the site at Vaynor since 874 then 1295 when the old church that we know today was built, there are no known graves from the Middle Ages up to the 1700s. Many burials were either not marked or marked only by a simple small stone which has been lost through time.

In Vaynor the earliest grave that remains visible today is a beautiful ledger stone marking the grave of the Rev William Watkin Rector at Vaynor Old Church from 1688 until his death in 1704. The Rev Watkin was buried inside of the old church, under the alter. When the church was taken down the stone became open to the elements. It is beautifully carved in relief with the inscription encircling around giving his family lineage.

It reads:

Here lieth the body of William Watkins , rector of this parish.

Son to Watkin John of Panty (Pandy) he married Jane daughter to William Garston of Newcourt in Herefordshire, Gent, by whom he had issue, William, John, Samuel Benjamin, Walter, Edward, Nathaniel, Mary and Elinor, He died – April 1704. Aged 43.

(Coat of arms of the Herbert Family)

There is a similar style stone in Brecon cathedral dated 1676. However, the Breconshire historian Theophilus Jones writing in the 19th century questioned his authority to use the crest. Nevertheless it’s a beautiful stone, however, in the last few years this stone has cracked in half although it is still in its original place.

Ledger stones are inscribed stone slabs usually laid flat into the floor of a church or on the earth to mark the place of burial. There are several ledger stones in Vaynor old Churchyard and quite possibly more as they are easily broken or tend to get covered over, especially when lying flat on the ground. Another ledger stone on the edge of the pathway marks the grave of David Jenkin of Penderyn Parish who died April 1784 aged 78 and his wife Anne died December 1786 aged 81.

Both long lived. The quality of the lettering is simply beautiful and looks like it was carved yesterday.

Just below the old Church is a mysterious Ledger stone marking the grave of Thomas Edmund The famous Racer who died 1785.

His story was well known into the 19th century and was written about in the 1890s by historians including Rev J E Jenkins Rector of Vaynor, William Morgan Vaynor Handbook and Charles Wilkins History of Merthyr Tydfil. Thomas was a runner who won many races. Many fortunes were made and some lost when betting on his races. He died young at the age of 34 and his death is recorded in the parish records for 1785.

The inscription at the top of the stone reads

Here Lie the Body of
Thomas Edmund
Who was interred here May
10th 1785, aged 34 years

(The bottom of the stone reads )

The Famous Racer.

The inscription although clear and readable is sited above another faded illegible inscription. The style of the faded inscription appears earlier in date. Was the stone re cut with Thomas’s epitaph? I find it a bit of a mystery. The faded text may have been naturally worn away by the elements however there is no damage to support this in the upper text referring to Thomas. Usually any text at the top of the stone marks the start so the oldest at the top. Whatever is added below therefore comes later. Although you can see the shape of the faded text on the stone but it’s unreadable. I tried ‘grave rubbing’ to get an imprint, but with no luck. I also photographed it from different angles and edited the resolutions to try and improve it with no great success.

The answer may lie with historian William Morgan writing in 1896 a few years after Rev J.E Jenkins. William Morgan referred to the stone as

‘A memorial stone to perpetuate the Memory of Thomas Edmund’.

Perpetuate – to keep on going (I had to google that). So although Thomas Edmund died 1785 there is every possibility that his epitaph which we read today was not added until a hundred years later on a previously used stone, perhaps to keep his story alive?

To see more of Alison’s fantastic research about Pontsarn and Vaynor, please follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/747174317220437