Headstone - Belvoir Angels

Sian Matthews

Two Belvoir-style angels are at the top of this headstone in the churchyard of St Mary's, Nottingham, just outside the Vale of Belvoir where they were a local speciality, always carved in Swithland Slate from Charnwood Forest. This is usually very durable but I could could not make out much of the inscription and the stone is bigger, so while the inimitable style shows it is by the same craftsman I wonder if it is on a different stone. Dated 1725 it is clearly the "Hemsley headstone" mentioned by Stapleton in his 1911 Nottingham Graveyard Guide, drawing attention to the sculpting in relief of much of the text, "a practical man some time since expressed the opinion that its cost would be greater than that of any other stone in the churchyard. It is unique in Nottingham, but there is another example of the same treatment, very much resembling this, in Clifton churchyard." A link to one in good condition is in the first comment below.

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