Many gravestones from the 18th C found in Cornwall have the skull and crossbones carved into them. Nearly all of these are made of slate, later gravestones tending to be of granite and not so easily to carve. It seems to have been a fashion rather than anything else, other favoured inscriptions of the time being an image of the persons head sprouting wings and flying off to heaven.

Whilst researching a walk in Tavistock some years ago I visited the sarcophagus of Ordulf...a giant of a man who was supposed to have founded the town back in saxon times. For such a big man the stone chest is rather small...I asked about this and was told that only the skull and long leg bones were buried for some reason.

I will try to find my papers and find out why, but this may be a reason behind the skull and crossbones image......

Mr H