Spectator stay, and view this sacred ground See it contains such Loue, on Earth scarce found, A BROTHER and a SISTER, and you see She seeks to find him in Mortality-- First he did leave us; then she stay'd & try'd To live without him, lik'd it not and dy'd Here they ly buried, whose Religious Zeal Appeard sincere to Prince, Church, Commonweal; Kind to their Kindred, Faithful to their Friends, Clear in their Lives and Chearful to their ends. They both were Dear to them whose good intent Makes them both liue in this one Monument. So Dear in Cordial Loue, tho' th' outward part. Turne Dust it holds impression to the Heart.
The churchyard is first mentioned as a burying ground in 1594, and until 1841 was very small: indeed, the population it had to serve was small up to the nineteenth century. But by 1841 the population of the parish had grown, and Lady le Fleming made an addition to the churchyard. Subsequent additions were made in 1845, 1865, and 1878, the last by the removal of the old Institute, formerly the Boys' School. This used to stand between the church and the road, as shown in the photograph exhibited, with other views and relics of the neighbourhood, in the museum at the Coniston Institute.
In Coniston Churchyard the centre of general interest is Ruskin's grave, marked by the tall sculptured cross of gray Tilberthwaite stone, which stands under the fir trees near the wall separating the churchyard from the schoolyard. Near it are the white crosses of the Beevers, and the railed-in space is reserved for the family of Brantwood. The sculptures on the east face are intended to suggest Ruskin's earlier writings--the lower panel his juvenile poems; above, the young artist with a hint of sunrise over Mont Blanc in the background, for "Modern Painters;" the Lion of St. Mark, for "Stones of Venice," and the candlestick of the Tabernacle for "Seven Lamps." On the west face below is the parable of the labourers in the vineyard--"Unto this Last," then "Sesame and Lilies," the Angel of Fate with club, key and nail for "Fors Clavigera," the "Crown of Wild Olive," and St. George, symbolizing his later work. On the south edge are the Squirrel, the Robin and the Kingfisher in a scroll of wild rose to suggest Ruskin's favourite studies in natural history. On the north edge is a simple interlaced plait. The cross was carved by the late H. T. Miles of Ulverston from designs by W. G. Collingwood.