If you never caught the first post in the series of photos taken at Stellenbosch cemetery – click here to see what the photos are all about.

I meant to comment in a previous post on how a graveyard is a universal leveler. Even though this is mostly true - to some extent anyway - in the case of this cluster of graves it's clear that the family was segregated from the rest of the cemetery's residents. Not only this, but it even looks as though the people in the two graves in front were placed there to guard over those behind the fence. Spooky.

I should actually have read the inscriptions on the headstones - I have a feeling there's a particularly sad story about this cluster.

If you never caught the first post in the series of cemetery photos – click here to see what the series is all about.

It never looked quite so haunting at the time, but looking at the photo afterwards gave Kerry-Anne and I both an eerie chill.

Only after closely inspecting this photo and others taken from different angles did I realise that this particular spot in Stellenbosch cemetery appears to be dedicated to children's graves - hence all the small angelic figures. It must be terrible to lose a child - especially a young one like Marina Van Eck. It looks like she was just shy of 5 years old when she died.

The inscription is an excerpt from the Christian bible and reads "Want aan sulkes behoort die koninkryk van God". translated this reads "For to such belongs the kingdom of God".

If you never caught the first post in the series of cemetery photos – click here to see what the series is all about.

I wonder what the significance, or symbolism of this checkerboard gravestone is. Was it that the deceased was particularly good at chess, or simply that the style was fashionable at the time?

Cemeteries often have a few graves that look very different to those around them. Have you ever walked through a cemetery and wondered why particular gravestones have particular designs? I don't normally hang out at cemeteries, but on the occasions that I've visited one I've often found myself wondering what lies behind the distinctive nature of certain designs.