It is the grave of the last known Sin-Eater in England, a practice peculiar to the England/Welsh marches. Richard Munslow appear to have taken on the job after losing 3 of his children in a Whooping Cough outbreak. Sin Eaters were paid a small amount to eat bread and drink ale accross the body of someone who died suddenly, taking on their sins so they arrive before God in a clean and pure state.
This object can be found in Ratlinghope Churchyard, near Church Stretton on the Long Mynd, Shropshire, which is in the Diocese of Hereford.
Sin Eater's Grave Ratlinghope Shropshire
Contributed by Diocese of Hereford
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1906
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Comments
There is a record of a Sin Eater at Sharow, near Ripon in the late 19th century. Remembered by the novelist Naomi Jacob in one of her autobiographical books 'Me Again'
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There were Sin-Eaters in Yorkshire
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