Introduction Baking in the hottest of hot July heatwaves my thoughts turned to keeping cool which inevitably led to ice cream. In turn that reminded me of a grave which I had recently re-discovered in a far corner of Teignmouth Old Cemetery. It is the grave of Angelo Antonio Antonucci. At heart this story isContinue reading “Of War, Brigands, Ice-cream and the Antonuccis”
Tag Archives: Teignmouth cemetery
Rear-Admiral William Alfred Rombulow Pearse
Introduction Is it a pre-requisite of admirals of the 18th and 19th centuries to have grandiose names? Probably not, but one of the first graves we researched was that of Rear-Admiral Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt – a name to conjure with. A Royal Naval Mediterranean explorer, he could be called the “Indiana Jones” of his time! RearContinue reading “Rear-Admiral William Alfred Rombulow Pearse”
Next Steps
The area of the cemetery that we decided to clear first brought an unexpected finding – a row of children’s graves. We believe there are six, although only five have kerbstones which suggests that the sixth is an unmarked grave. Most of the hard clearance work in this area has now been done which begsContinue reading “Next Steps”
Progress Update
Here are a few pictures showing the progress made so far on the main area of graves we have been working on. It has been HARD work, especially trying to eradicate the many years of growth of brambles and ivy, but we’re getting there. The next stage for this area will be to decide howContinue reading “Progress Update”
First Working Party
I missed it!! Thursday May 4th saw the first working party on the first site we had marked out for clearance and I missed it – away in sunny climes. But there was a lot of activity as you can see from the photographs below and I am told that much progress was made. ThanksContinue reading “First Working Party”
Our First Survey
Finally we have our public liability insurance and a completed risk assessment. This means that Teignbridge have now been able to give us official permission to be able to work in the cemetery. Last Thursday a group of us visited the Cemetery to survey the first area which we will be clearing. This gave usContinue reading “Our First Survey”
Finding Mary Bowden’s Grave
Last Thursday I went up to the cemetery armed with a stake and a hammer ….. and before anyone says it, no I wasn’t vampire hunting – I also had a makeshift plaque and a tape-measure. I was there to meet up with Katrine Smith, the Cemetery Officer from Teignbridge. She came clutching two mapsContinue reading “Finding Mary Bowden’s Grave”
Cemetery Records
Last week I met with Katrine Smith, the Cemetery Officer for Teignbridge District Council. She very kindly, and with great enthusiasm, showed me the records that are held on the Teignmouth Old Cemetery. We looked at the fascinating old map of the burial plots and looked up the records of Leah Laforgue, the first personContinue reading “Cemetery Records”
We are not alone
A few days ago I received an email from Jaki, one of the FOTC Friends: “Was just in London and friend’s flat backs onto Brompton Cemetery. Walked through there. Some areas totally overgrown but they are clearing and working to restore and have an ongoing project.” So WE ARE NOT ALONE! Accompanying the text belowContinue reading “We are not alone”
The Ruin
To the left of the lodge is the remains of a second chapel. Until a couple of weeks ago this was covered with ivy and full of bramble and ivy. The overgrowth has now been cut back but there is still quite a bit of work left to bring the inside down to its originalContinue reading “The Ruin”
Teignmouth Old Cemetery 