My name on my tombstone 9

St Mary’s, Totton, Eling, Hampshire: note the stones facing the same way, towards the east. Somewhere in front of them would be the headstone of the incumbent facing his flock, just as he would have stood before the congregation during church services; he is ready to lead them at the sound of the Last Trump. 

This ties in with Christian belief: Then the man brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east and I saw the Glory of God  [Ezek 43:1]

However, the symbolism could be traced much further back than Christianity.

More on the origins of grave orientation at

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_graves_always_facing_east_in_cemeteries

Totton and Eling is a town and civil parish in Hampshire, England.

This church has Caithness associations: James Caithness snr. (1786-1826) married Ann Scorey (1796-1889) here on 30 June 1814. Captain William Bell's wife was a Caithness.

Acknowledgement for photo: Peter Hay 

Souvenir Saturday: Caithness and Eling Echoes

Eling Tide Mill would have been a landmark familiar to members of the Caithness family in the 19^th century.

Situated on the edge of Southampton Water beside the New Forest, it is one of the few tidal mills in the world still producing stone ground flour daily, a tradition dating back 900 years.

Caithness descendant Peter Hay visited Eling and environs and took the photographs below. Abandoned in the 1940s the mill was restored and re-opened in 1980 as a working mill and a museum commemorating this aspect of Britain’s industrial heritage.

The millstone in the foreground would have been in use
 in the Caithness family's era.

Another local feature is the only surviving medieval toll in Hampshire (started c1418) on the causeway which runs directly past Eling Tide Mill. The mill and toll were owned by Winchester College until 1975 when ownership passed to the local Council.

The charge to pass through the toll increased from sixpence in 1967 to 30 pence in 1988 to over £1 more recently.   

The Village Bells: a sign over the bar states 'circa 1800'

http://www.pteratunes.org.uk/OU/Tidal/Eling2.html

http://www.elingexperience.co.uk/Elingmill_1.html

Acknowledgement:

Peter Hay