The Tragic Riley Family
Most visitors cannot fail to notice the row of cast white metal cross headstones which form one line before you turn up the path to the final approach to the front door. Few bother to go and read the inscriptions but if one does you find a rather tragic story of one family. They all belong to the one family who according to village belief all suffered from tuberculosis (or consumption as it was called then). The females all died first mostly in late teens with the brothers surviving into their twenties. It must have been heartbreaking for their mother who died the year after her last son. There is one further stone cross rather than a metal one for a related family member who may be the wife of the fathers brother. She died in 1932 so this is in the same style as the metal crosses that commemorates the parents. These 19th century versions have not worn as well as the earlier 18th century crosses for the children but all are the only memorials like it in any of the four churches in the benefice.
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You can view the crosses which are for the Riley family below. If you click on the image you can view a larger version.
Main row of the late Victorian crosses.
Main row of the late Victorian crosses.
The row behind has the parents and the surviving wife of a John Riley. The later has the stone cross.