Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Prescot, The Churchyard of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, with The Cemetery Lady

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · 9d

youtu.be/Jvz3hvAgsrA?...

The churchyard at Prescot Parish Church has a history predating the Norman Conquest, indicated by its circular shape, with written records of a church on the site dating to 1140. Amongst the stones laying beside the building are many fine examples from the 1700s.

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · 13d

🖤 Eternal thanks to Stephen Mercer, The Victorian Ghost Hunter – it’s with his blessing that I now carry the lantern of the Blackpool Ghost Walks into its next chapter. #blackpool #ghosts #hauntings #heritage

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · 14d

Spooky season creeps ever closer… the shadows whisper, and I have a most chilling announcement to unveil. Watch this space. .. . #spooky #haunting

Join Deborah Contessa at St Peter’s Churchyard, Heversham, Cumbria

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · 16d

Heversham’s St Peter’s Churchyard, a Norse cross whispers of ages past, a sundial marks forgotten hours, and stone cherubs with hollow eyes keep their eternal watch… #churchyard #ancient #history #graves

youtu.be/nH-Rj7OGKuo?...

The Ruins of Windleshaw Chantry with Deborah Contessa

1 5

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Sep 14

youtu.be/YnvVQlV1vm8?...
#Chantry#ruin #history #heritage

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Sep 7

It was such a pleasure to join The Victorian Ghost Hunter and add an extra whisper of dread to the air.
Though I do fear Supernatural Events may never again surpass the horrors that Temple Street had on offer for us all last night! #ghost #haunting #history

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Sep 1

SUNDIAL & STOCKS
the endstones are most probably C17. An older pair of oak stocks is preserved in the church.
The sundial, dated 1714, on a turned shaft of stone has inscribed on the dial ‘Pulvis et umbra sumus’ which translates as ‘We are dust and shadow’ Grappenhall #History #stocks #sundial

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 31

Read it and weep fellow taphophiles . . . Memento Mori on a stone from 1674 🖤 #grave #gravestone #churchyard #17thCentury #mementomori

St Oswald’s, Grasmere – a churchyard where poetry never dies, with Deborah Contessa

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 29

Nestled in the heart of Grasmere, St Oswald’s churchyard is where William Wordsworth rests beneath ancient yews and Lakeland skies. A beautifully picturesque place where poetry and landscape meet.
youtu.be/zTRylKNCnE4?...

Sandbach Crosses | Anglo-Saxon Treasures of Cheshire with Deborah Contessa

2 2

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 29

I wandered lonely as a goth… and naturally ended up in a graveyard . . .
Whose final resting place did I discover today?
#poet #grave #churchyard #lakedistrict

1 3

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 27

Rising from Sandbach’s market square, the ancient Saxon crosses whisper of a world over a thousand years gone. Their weathered carvings—saints, angels, and sacred stories—still cling to the stone, echoing the faith and power of early medieval England.
#History #Heritage #AngloSaxon

3

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 27

Guardians of Forgotten Time: Sandbach’s Saxon Crosses
youtu.be/8WzzmwvTRyc?...
#history #heritage #ancient #crosses #anglosaxon

St Mary’s Churchyard, Sandbach – a place of history and quiet beauty- with Deborah Contessa

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 26

Beneath the rare arched bell tower of St Mary’s, Sandbach, history lays all around. Beside the church door stand fragments of early medieval carvings, while the churchyard itself is a patchwork of gravestones many dating back to the 1600s ⬇️ click below & join me! 🪦

youtu.be/pYZUuoXaNho?...

Visit Piel Island, with Deborah Contessa, discover ruins, rebellion, and royalty.

1 3

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 26

This standing medieval cross ( repurposed as a Sundial) is situated 10m south of the nave of St Mary's Church, Sandbach
#history #heritage #ancient #churchyard

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 22

Another one ticked off the bucket list 🖤
Tiny ferry. Huge history.
From the haunting ruins of Piel Castle to a pint with the King of Piel – this island is like nowhere else on earth. #PielIsland #ShipInn #KingofPiel

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 22

youtu.be/rQgdt7FLNgY?...

I sailed to Piel Island, walked its haunted castle, and drank with a king – not a bad day out #island #history #heritage #piel #king #haunting

St Martin’s Churchyard, Bowness with Deborah Contessa

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 22

Visit beautiful Bowness & the churchyard of St Martin’s with me, some remarkably preserved stones from the 1700’s lie within.
#lakedistrict #windermere #graves #churchyard
youtu.be/VOnRGUHzISs?...

Penrith Castle, with Deborah Contessa

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 18

Red sandstone, ruined walls, and whispers of a king with a crooked crown… Penrith Castle still knows how to brood beautifully. #castle #penrith #history #heritage

youtu.be/R6F23PYDCso?...

Mayburgh & Arthur’s Round Table: Echoes of an Ancient Rite, with Deborah Contessa

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 18

Some walked with me for the first time, others returned like ghosts who know the way. #tour #cemetery #history #Heritage #stories #Blackpool

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 17

Stalked the streets of Blackpool with the Master of the Macabre himself Stephen Mercer . . . heard the dead whisper, saw the living scream, and ended the night with spirits of both varieties. 👻🥃 #haunting #history #heritage #ghosts

Deborah Contessa, The Cemetery Lady, Mistress of the Macabre @deborahcontessa.bsky.social · Aug 17

Mayburgh Henge & Arthur’s Round Table – where history, folklore, and friendly cows collide. #standingstones #history #mystery #legend
youtu.be/GPseyaovZBs?...