Death and the Dissenter: group identity and stylistic simplicity as witnessed in nineteenth-century nonconformist gravestones

Abstract

Until recently British Nonconformist communities have received little attention from archaeologists; however, their monuments and buildings provide a good opportunity to study one of the most important religious identity groups in early modern history.In the 19th century, Methodism was practiced by 25% of the English churchgoing population, and yet it was not until 1880 that its members were allowed to practice their own funerary rites in local churchyards. This study investigates grave monuments found in the private cemeteries attached to Methodist chapels and compares them with the gravestones found in a contemporary planned Victorian cemetery that was divided into Anglican and Nonconformist areas. Before 1880, when funeral expression was limited, simple undecorated monuments were favored, whereas after this date, complex decorated monuments became more common. Within an environment of religious division and intolerance, some Nonconformists, those lucky enough to have access to private burial grounds, chose to express their identity by practicing selective consumerism and through the uniformity found in simple grave monuments.