Corpse Way: Grinton Church

St. Andrew's Church and burial ground, Grinton ( Swaledale). This used to be the nearest consecrated ground to the village of Keld, which lies at the opposite end of Swaledale, approximately twelve miles away. Bodies were borne along the Corpse Way to Grinton, over Kisdon Hill, in wicker baskets. Every so often along the road, there were long slabs of stone on which the corpse could be placed while the corpse-bearers rested.

Mounted on Photo File card with LAVC/PHO/P1621, and contact print copies of LAVC/PHO/P1184 and LAVC/PHO/P1185. With ms. notes on the Corpse Way and its use, and words to the 'Swaledale Dirge' as sung by Ruth Alderson of Gunnerside, in the hand of Werner Kissling.

Originally held in Photo File: Traditional Customs, Annual Fairs, Bonfires.