Victorian Cast Iron Grave Monument in Alabama

Victorian cast iron grave monument in Greenville, Alabama’s Magnolia Cemetery.

While searching for catfish photos yesterday, I somehow stumbled upon this photo of an amazing, rusted iron grave monument on the blog Deep Fried Kudzu. This particular grave is in Magnolia Cemetery, but the post states many more iron monuments can be found in Greenville’s Pioneer Cemetery.

I’ve never stumbled upon anything like this while wondering the cemeteries here in Wisconsin, so I did some digging. A page on RootsWeb explaining types of headstones has this to say about iron monuments:

Iron grave markers and decorations were popular during the Victorian era in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, often being produced by specialist foundries or the local blacksmith. Many cast iron headstones have lasted for generations while wrought ironwork often only survives in a rusted or eroded state.

The Alabama Historical Commission published A Guide to Common Alabama Grave Markers (PDF) which says:

Fences, sometimes incorporating funerary motifs such as inverted torches, draped urns, weeping willow trees and reclining lambs, are the most common cast iron features in cemeteries. Grave markers and above-ground tombs were occasionally made of cast iron.

More graves and graveshelters from Alabama right here.