A non stop photographic journey around the beautiful Isle of Man by Peter Killey
The Archibald Knox designed monument of Manx author Hall Caine in Maughould Churchyard. Feel free to make any comments either on this website by clicking the “Leave a comment” above or by logging onto my Facebook Page enjoy – Click on the image for a larger view.
Before I give you some history into this chained grave, non of this info can be fully supported and maybe the subject of Isle of Man myth! This rather strange grave brings many visitors to Malew Churchyard and as can be seen by the image it is iron staked at each corner and randomly heavily chained to allegedly keep the vampire in! The alleged Vampire was a Mr Hassal who died aged 54, when Mr Hassal died the Undertakers were not allowed to bring his body onto the consecrated church grounds so rumour has it that they loaded his body into the grave from behind the wall, it was then covered in a heavy slate slab and staked with iron posts and iron chains. To add to this conundrum Mr Hassal’s wife Margaret is also buried in this chained grave!
This very famous Manx Grave in the New Kirk Braddan Cemetery is that of Manx Illustrator and designer Archibald Knox (1864 to 1933). Archibald Knox was born in nearby Cronkbourne Village and he grew up being inspired by intricately carved patterns in Celtic Stones of Mann. The beautiful wording on his gravestone reads “A humble servant of God in the ministry of the beautiful” His work still lives on to this day in the form of the world famous Archibald Knox Jewelry. The image was captured on my Nikon S3000 digital camera and cropped in Adobe Photoshop CS5. Click on the image for a larger view!