Tell me it's not a gravestone....

[DadnDom]

Digging over the flower bed to discover why all the bulbs died last summer. About 8 inch down is stone slabs, about an hour in and I pulled this one out....
We live in a barn conversion in the grounds of an old country estate that was an abbey for a while. Any ideas what it is, no date on it which makes me believe it's old graffiti perhaps by the gardens designer?
Locals rumour that Capability Brown designed the gardens. Letters are (first one missing) " ?.B. Esq.1 " the missing portion was not damaged by me lifting it, appears to have been missing some time previous to it being lifted. The lettering was face down and the back of the stone is not dressed so it appears to be just another slab from that side.

[DadnDom]

[quizzical1]

Looks to me like the remains of a "C" in the damaged part of the slab, so maybe........................

[Suzanne]

Look on the brightside - if the flowers have free access to whatever is underneath you should get a glorious show this year!

[Jeannine]

It looks like it should stsnd upright like a milesone marker, the area with the letters in more finished so I wonder if the other half should be in the ground.XX  Jeannine

[Barnowl]

Could it be a gravestone for a pet?

[Joe11]

Well Esq. (Esquire) is a title just as Mr is, so on that basis i reckon it refers to a person.

If he did design the gardens that were there then it could have been made just to show the designer ??? ??? If i were you i would dig a little to find out if there is anything there, but i doubt it. My money is on the above.

Also there may well be some people interested in what you have found e.g. museums who could possibly tell you more also.

[OllieC]

I have literally hundreds of piccies of quaker gravestones (CB was one, IIRC). They normally have a name and a from & to date, occasionally saying "at rest", on a modest stone with little or no extras. That is actually classic Quaker gravestone shape & look (although a bit small - all the ones I've seen were the width of a grave). But they were normally less cryptic.

If I could remember how, I'd post a piccie.

[glosterwomble]

Just a quick point (sorry if I'm everyone already knows this) Capability Brown is not his actual name, his name is Lancelot Brown, capability is just a nickname with reference to his skills. Plus would he actually have left a marker like that? I  agree with Jeannine in that I thought it looked just like a milestone or a marker of some sort. Mind you if it was a gave stone I would say it's a pet, people can be very weird when naming pets so it could have been called  .(whatever) .......esq.

[DadnDom]

I'll nip out this afternoon and take some pics of the gardens. Part of a country estate that was bought by nuns, the nuns tended the gardens until the early 80's when they just upped and left. The gardens were enclosed within a huge security wall and have just been left to ruin.
Here is the entrance to the garden stores they run along the back face side of the south  wall, think they were used to store fruit/veg and tools in. They run alon the entire length of the wall, t'other side was a huge greenhouse, must be around 150 to 200 feet long.

[Carol]

That is a gravestone.


:)

[Tin Shed]

I think it is a gravestone - how exciting!!

[tim]

One for the pot.

When we came here we found a headstone to Thomas Herbert Senior - 1869 or thereabouts - as part of the paving!!

It's still there.

[Deb P]

I wonder if the ground underneath the stone will be very fertile....... :-\ :o

[kt.]

Yip - looks like a gravestone. Now you have disturbed the dead you will be visited by ghosts & ghouls ;D ;D ;D.   

Dont throw it away - put it at your front gate, along with a pumpkin & candle on halloween! Kids 'll love it.

[ACE]

As an ex gravedigger of this parish, I can tell you that is definately a gravestone, the masons would not finish the bit that would not be seen when buried. Looks like it is Georgian. It is not a nuns gravestone although I expect there are a few buried in the garden somewhere as they usually have their little cemetery in their own grounds. Be warned they did not like to be buried full depth.

Some big estates used to have their own cemeteries and as they were all the same family name they would all be on the main headstone, only initials would be put on the marker. Put it on ebay, somebody must have the same initials ;D

[greyhound]

Looks like a footstone rather than the headstone.  They usually just have the initials.

[Jeannine]

Wow, I think this is really interesting,I wonder what you would get for it on Ebay,especially if thr initials fit someone doing their geneology,like buying old family photos and claiming they are you ancestors .Mind you postage to the US would be pricey.!!!

XX Jeannine

[Barnowl]

Well Esq. (Esquire) is a title just as Mr is, so on that basis i reckon it refers to a person.

It wasn't uncommon for people to give their favoured pets the title Esquire, but the other suggestions are more interesting.

[DadnDom]

"ace" is right, the nuns had their own cemetry in the grounds, 60 odd in there. Rain stopped play on the photo's. But when the sun comes out i'll get a few snaps.