Flowers and immortelles on Graves – A Welsh custom?

22nd March 2022

immortelleIt seems very likely that the custom of placing flowers on graves was unique to Wales (at least withing the UK), until the middle of the 19th century. Some of the many 18th and 19th century English visitors to Wales who mentioned the practice suggested that it was worthy of emulating in England, which implies that it was not common there: indeed, a few early 19th century writers stated that flowers were rarely seen in English graveyards.

The introduction of flowers on English graves came about at the time that large municipal, non-denominational cemeteries were constructed on the edge of large towns from the 1830s, similar to Pere la Chaise, the cemetery in Paris which was famous for having graves decorated with flowers.  As populations and prosperity increased, some could afford to decorate the graves of their loved ones with flowers and it is likely that florists saw this as an opportunity to increase sales.

immortelleIn Wales there are still two distinct but related customs. The first is to strew or plant flowers on graves immediately after the funeral. The graves were tended regularly, in some places weekly, at least for a few months after the funeral. Evidence for this custom was found all over Wales and dates back to the 17th century.

The second custom was held on the day before Palm Sunday (or on the day before Easter Day or Whit Sunday) when the graves were tidied and new flowers placed or planted on the grave. In some places, the headstones were cleaned or whitewashed. This custom is known as Sul y Blodau (Flower Sunday) and is still widely practiced in Wales on Palm Sunday but the earliest evidence suggests that it was originally restricted to the south-east and just over the border (Gloucester, Hereford and Shrops).

It is possible that these customs are related to pre-reformation Catholic rituals which might have survived for longer in Wales than in England.

 

Immortelles

With the introduction at the end of the 19th century of large horizontal slabs over the grave, often surrounded by curb stones, (in addition to an engraved headstone), the planting of flowers on graves was no longer possible, so an alternative was introduced – the placing of immortelles on the grave slab. These normally comprise an arrangement of unglazed white porcelain flowers and symbols (such as hands, doves and crosses), placed under a glass dome which was normally protected by a wire cage. Most of the examples I have seen appear to date from the very end of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. Their distribution in England is unknown but they appear throughout Wales, generally in small numbers. I have been unable to find out anything about their production and distribution. The domes are liable to be accidently or deliberately broken and it seems likely that for safety reasons, the remains are removed. Where the domes have survived, they often create a micro-climate which encourages the growth of plants within them.

It would be very interesting to hear of examples of immortelles in graveyards throughout the UK. Please contact me by e-mail [email protected]

Much more on the subject may be found on my website:

https://sublimewales.wordpress.com/material-culture/buildings/churchyards/flowers-on-graves/

Michael Freeman. Honorary Research Fellow, National Museum of Wales.

Illustrations

A bilingual print: ‘Gwisgo Bedd a Blodau, Dressing the grave with flowers’. Drawn by Thomas Onwyn, published by Rock and Co., 1853

A typical immortelle protected by a wire cage.

The variety of contents of an immortelle are clearer when the dome has been removed.

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