In the Churchyard of St. Andrew and St.Mary's in Grantchester, stands a monument to the Fellows of the Universities of Cambridge. The pelican at the top is a Christian symbol that denotes self~sacrifice.
It was earlier believed that the pelican fed it's young from a self inflicted gash, however the bird was merely feeding them from her pouch. The legend that was born from this observation, said that after the chicks had been killed by a snake, the mother bird resuscitated her young by feeding them her own blood. A great act of self~sacrifice for the sake of her children.
There are more names inscribed on the base of this monument than I have listed here, as all the horizontal surfaces have dedications as well. Unfortunately the lichens and weather have made them illegible.
Bruce Dickins
Fellow
Erlington & Bosworth
Professor of Anglo~Saxon
1880~1978
David James Bruce
Fellow
1928~1998
John Edward Lennard Jones
K.B.E ScD E.R.S Fellow
Professor Theoretical
Chemistry Principal
Univ. Col. Keele
1894~1954
Evelyn Garthmore
Fellow
1906~1990
John Thomson Mac ( Curdy ) ?
ScD Fellow
University Lecturer
1886~1947
Ronald R Henderson
A.O. C.M.G
Professor
1917~1994
George Stuart Carter
Fellow
1893~1969
Patrice Edouard Charvet
Fellow
1903~1993
and his wife
Eleanor Margaret
1904~1986
Malcolm Archer Sheridan Burgess
Fellow
1926~1978
John Harley Mason
Fellow
1920~2003
Stuart Dunsmore Elliot
Fellow
1907~1986
Gerard Mark Duveen
Fellow
1931~2008
Richard Bainbridge
Fellow
1922~1987
The pelican symbolism is so interesting--and new to me! Thank you for sharing. (Your photos are always so lovely.)
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