St Catherine's Churchyard, Cocking

I've been fascinated by a row of 10 iron grave markers against the fence, plus another couple elsewhere, in Cocking churchyard. They are so old the inscriptions have worn away, and it's taken me a while to find out anything about them.

The earliest grave markers were of course wood, which rotted quite quickly in damp ground. With the advent of iron, the new material was bound to be used in its place. All the ones here are Celtic crosses, quite simple in design, and some of the earliest known iron grave markers were made in Sussex, back in the day when the county was the centre of England's iron industry. Some date back as far as the 1600's but it's thought these ones would more likely be Victorian.

Molten iron would be poured into sand moulds impressed with the pattern and a simple inscription of name, age and date of death. If I could get round the back, I would be able to find the marker's name impressed there. Some of them would have been ornamented when new, with paint and even gold leaf, now long gone.

Another little mystery solved.