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Trevor James presents a fascinating glimpse into a little-known aspect of regional heritage: the ‘bedstead’ or ‘graveboard’ timber memorials once common across the Home Counties before the Railway Age. Drawing on highly specialised original research, this talk explores their design, symbolism, and cultural significance, supported by photographic evidence. Though niche in subject, the work reveals broader insights into local identity, craftsmanship, and changing burial practices.
Attendees will discover how these fragile, often-overlooked memorials offer a window into the past, highlighting a tradition that has largely disappeared but which remains an important part of historical landscape and memory.
Dr. Trevor James is a Leicester University trained local historian who has worked as an adult tutor for over fifty years, alongside his other career as teacher, inspector and researcher. He has been an active member of the Historical Association for fifty-nine years and he served as Editor of The Historian from 2006 until 2019; and is currently a reviewer for Aspects of History, the on-line history magazine.
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