Old Burying Ground, Fairfield, Connecticut

During my trip to Fairfield, I couldn't resist stopping by the Old Burying Ground on Beach Street, and I'm really glad I did. I saw some of the most beautiful eighteenth-century stones - if not the most beautiful - I've ever seen. Sophisticated craftsmanship and excellent preservation has a lot to do with their beauty, but the material of the stones makes a huge difference as well. I don't know what the material is, but it has a gorgeous, shimmering stripe to it, which you can see running diagonally in the stone of Samuel Osborn, above.

The stone below was probably made in the same workshop, if not by the same artist. The death head has the same little umbrella above it, and the stripes are there, too. They're more obvious here than in the stone above, and they run horizontally.

I'm guessing this stone below could have come out of the same workshop, although it isn't as similar to the two stones above as they are to each other. The inscription is really extensive - it's practically a C.V. If there's a stripe in this one, it's much more subtle.

The stones below are also beautiful and very well preserved. We passed a historical house called the "Burr House" while in Fairfield; I'm assuming that these Burrs are somehow related.

This death's head below has the same "under-eye circles" as the death's heads below. It's a lot simpler than the first stones, with the stripes. It's also later (1776 rather than the 1750s).

 

The stone below is dated three years earlier than the stone above, but it's already moved past the death's head to the cherub. A empty-eyed, creepy cherub.

It matches this creepy cherub, below, seemingly made by the same artist.

Then there is this stone. What is it? Its cherub looks so different from the highly abstracted cherubs above, and the material is much different, too. Apart from that one big break, it's remarkably well preserved - it looks like it was made yesterday.

This stone is different too - even less abstracted.

This stone is regular red sandstone and has the abstracted cherub face, but it's notable for its reconstruction. Clearly, it was extensively damaged, but whoever reconstructed it did a good job. Hopefully the materials used in the reconstruction will hold up long-term.

Here's one last view of the burying ground. I only spent a few minutes there but could have easily spent a few hours.