Orne Street Path 1 | Old Burial Hill

The Cluster by the Orne Street Path — 1

The path from Orne Street begins as a cement walkway. After several sets of steps, it becomes brick-stone and divides the gravestones of this lower side of the hill. The headstones on the right have their inscriptions facing us. On the left, we see the back sides of the headstones.

Brick path after entering from Orne Street.

We'll begin by looking at headstones on the right. The graveyard has about 650 headstones and this section has almost 80. The dark gray and blue-gray stones are slate, a material commonly used in the 1600s and 1700s. The white stones are marble and came into common use in the middle 1800s.

Rebekah Bonfild (1687) The Rebekah Bonfild stone is the first upright one along the path. It's shorter than most headstones. Dated 1687, it's also one of the earliest.

	The top panel, called the crown or tympanum, features a skull with wings, often referred to as a winged death's head. This symbol was in common use during the early Puritan period. Other symbols related to death include the cross-bones and the hourglass. The epitaph tells us that Rebekah was someone WHO DID MUCH GOOD IN HER LIFE