Plans for a home that have sparked outrage in Hyde are set to be approved next week.
25.02.2024 - 05:15 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Right at the edge of Greater Manchester, a grave that has lain in a churchyard for centuries has evoked hair-raising tales thanks to its unusual and macabre design.
Dated 1720, the stone coffin-shaped grave has been a feature of St Aidan's Church in Billinge, near Wigan and St Helens, for over 300-years. It's certainly the churchyard's most striking grave and known locally as the 'vampire' grave thanks to its shape and unusual motif.
Carved into the stone is an emblem of a winged skull encircled by a serpent which is eating its own tail. This is an ancient circular symbol known as an Ouroborus, where a snake or dragon devours its own tail - representing the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth. Meanwhile, above the skull is the carving of a curtain with an illegible inscription that has worn over time.
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The spectacular grave, which is Grade II listed, is the tomb of George and Kitty Smith. The local legend is that George was bitten by a snake while working in the local quarry and subsequently died, leaving his widow Kitty who was later buried upon her own death from a broken heart.
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A variation on the legend is that it was Kitty who was bitten by the snake and succumbed to its venom with George taking his own life in a fit of grief. Either way, it is a gothic love story for the ages.
St Aidan's church, an active Anglican church in the deanery of Wigan, was built in 1718, just a couple of years before the unusual tomb was placed in its graveyard.
And although the grave's design is
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