Group Of Eight Early C18 Tombs To South Of The Saxon Church

This is a group of eight tombs from the early and mid-18th century located to the south of the Saxon Church in Bishop Auckland. The tombs are made of stone, likely sandstone. The positions of the tombs are measured from the center of the church porch.

The first tomb, located 6 meters southwest, features a headstone that is 0.5 meters high with a serpentine head. The west face has a large inscription dedicated to Ralph Simpson, who died in 1729, accompanied by a four-petalled flower linked by an incised line to corner paterae. The top has a deeply-cut groove that ends in stylized leaves, while the reverse has a recessed panel with a low relief of a simplified skull and crossed bones, above a partly obscured Latin inscription that begins with "Beati sunt mortui qui in Dom.."

The second tomb, 6 meters northeast, is a low headstone 0.4 meters high with a rounded top, dedicated to Peter Brown, who died in 1730. The third tomb, 6 meters east, has a headstone 0.5 meters high, commemorating Elizabeth Brown, who died in 1737.

The fourth tomb, 6 meters southeast, features a headstone with twin semicircles at the head and a border with rings, along with paired fern-like leaves at the junction of the semicircles. This tomb is dedicated to Cristefar Robson or Pearson, who died in 1703, and has an hourglass carved on the rear.

The fifth tomb, located 9 meters southeast, has a headstone 0.5 meters high with four segments along the top, dedicated to Mary Spark, who died in 1755. The sixth tomb, 12 meters southeast, features a headstone 0.5 meters high with a bracket-shaped top, commemorating Margaret Robson, who died in 1775 at the age of 17.

The seventh tomb, 8 meters east, has a headstone 0.5 meters high with a round top, inscribed to John Brown, who died in 1750, and his wife Catherine, of Witton le Wear. Finally, the eighth tomb, 10 meters east, features a headstone 0.5 meters high with an elaborate bracket-shaped top, dedicated to an indecipherable individual who died in 1730 at the age of 63.