Difference between a Graveyard and a Cemetery
I was not aware that there was a difference, but there is.
A Cemetery is a burial ground that may or may not be within Church grounds
A Graveyard is a burial ground that is within Church Grounds (technically within concecrated grounds).
The following website gives a great definition of both:
https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-cemetery-and-graveyard/
The word cemetery originates from Greek koimētērion means ‘sleeping place’. This is a place where we bury the remains of dead people. Cemeteries are a relatively new concept. They came into being when traditional graveyards became full with the increase in population. Unlike a graveyard, a cemetery is not adjacent to a church.
A graveyard is a burial ground that is adjacent to a church. In other words, a graveyard is a part of the churchyard. In the past, people, especially nobles and rich people, were buried close to the church. Some were buried in crypts underneath the church. The church had the power over the burial of the dead. For example, those who committed suicide were not allowed to be buried within the consecrated grounds of the graveyard. They were instead buried just outside the cemeteries.
Cemetery is a burial ground whereas graveyard is a burial ground in a churchyard. Thus, the main difference between cemetery and graveyard is their location. Moreover, graveyards are older than cemeteries since cemeteries are a relatively new concept.
Walking Through Cemeteries - Key Points
One of the many discoveries I've made walking through many different cemeteries is that there is a requirement for some preparation.
The first is footwear, general walking shoes are a good practical choice. Heels and other work shoes are not suitable. This is important. Trust me.
The second is protection from the sun, cemeteries often have few trees and other forms of shade, and as such it is quite easy to get sun burnt. In my case quite badly sunburnt.
The final item is to be respectful. Whilst cemeteries seem to be well laid out, as you investigate you may find to access some memorials requires some walking across other plots. Or walking in areas that may be unmarked graves. I have been known to walk carefully around, whilst mumbling apologies to those who may or may not be underfoot. I do worry that other people may think I'm rather odd, taking photos of memorials, wandering around apologising to no one, wearing a large hat, and complaining on my choice of shoes.
Oh well that is the joy of unusual hobbies!
Welcome to the site. I am delighted that you have decided to visit and I hope that you find what you are looking for.
This website is a hobby, and I guess a fairly unusual one. Cemetries are not a usual place to be drawn to, but they are full of interesting history, stories waiting to be told, snapshots into the lives not only of those that have passed, but those who were mourning them.
My interest started with the West Terrace Cemetery, located adjacent to the Adelaide CBD. I had been working Fly in, fly out in Darwin when my father passed away suddenly, so suddenly I was unable to return home in time. After this event I decided that I needed to move back to Adelaide. I was lucky to find a new job and this role was located within walking distance of the West Terace Cemetery.
I initially avoided the cemetery, but was eventually drawn to it, as somewhere quiet when I might need a moment. Soon I started to go there and read the various memorials, and found comfort in the words written on them. Soon I was regularly walking to the cemetery, intrigued by these messages of love, of loss, of pain. I found one of particular note. A message on a childs memorial, it read 'God Knew Best'. This devotion and faith I found both beautiful and confounding. How could the parents who lost a child write this? I found it difficult to think this, and I had loss my father.
From this particularly striking epitaph, I then started to take photos, with the concept of a book. I had found a book on the Cemetry, but there were very few books on Epitaphs.
And rather than a book I started to put information in a spreadsheet, then into a wiki page, and now a website database.
And so I started my new hobby.