17

For many decades Rottingdean schoolchildren have been taken to see the ‘Pirate’s Grave’. In fact, poor John Norris [17] was no more a pirate than you or I. The simple explanation for the skull and crossbones is that in the second half of the 18th Century it was traditional to show symbols of death such as the skull and crossbones, an hourglass showing time running out (see Henry Matthews' grave [21]) or a skeletal Grim Reaper with a scythe. The Victorians introduced more hopeful symbols such as winged angels, bouquets and classical images. Crosses were considered popeish and not reintroduced until about 1850.