St Mary Magdalene Church, Wyken

I take the back seat on this one. Very good knowledge there pixrobin. There is of course the link between the Templars and Freemasonry. Could there be a connection with that, if the grave is from the 17/18th century. I still can't be convinced of a pirate being buried in Wyken.

Baz. Post the name of the damned graveyard, Coventry can have its own ''Fistful of dollars''

Thanks for replies. I have been following links between the Templars, Roseline Chapel, Chris. Columbus and Oak Island. Why? Because I am in my dotage and got little else to do.

Don't worry LesMac, I have been trying to get to grips with Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement in and around Coventry. I think it is when we have a history of our own that we tend to look to see how much difference there is between us and our ancestors - in the basics not a lot.

Roslyn Chapel is up here. I have often been asked if I am in the Knights Templar both in Inverness and Malta (having attended Lodge Meetings in both locations) but I am not involved to that extent. The KT hold meetings in the Lodges all the time.

I think the Roslyn Chapel pillars debate will always have questions to answer! Knights Templar, Freemasons and Calvinism while off topic of Coventry would make an interesting thread all by itself.

You're right, such a thread would be interesting. Indeed, the Coventry links of each of those "organisations", for want of a better word, would make such a topic quite relevant if you wish to begin one. Incidentally, although I know almost nothing about the Knights Templar myself, I seem to recall David McGrory chatting about them to someone in the guildhall a while ago, and I think he said something about skulls being used as a symbol of mortality and as a way of discrediting the knights once they'd gone out of favour, possibly by the Catholic church, but I can't be sure.

Please excuse my misspelt Roslyn. In my mind I was thinking of Roseline Chapel in France that has links with Roslyn. I have been to Roslyn, very strange place. One arch is decorated with corn cobs and as the chapel was built before America was discovered, how could the builders know about corn cobs? Corn wasn't known here till comparatively recently. Well worth a visit, pity it's so far from here.

I've also been to Roslyn and never thought about the corncobs. Out of interest and assuming they still do, all the Coventry Lodges meet up regularly in the Chapel below the ruins of Guy's Cliffe House on the edge of Warwick. Now that is a spooky place!

Another view of St Mary Magdalene, Wyken, Coventry's oldest church.

I remember seeing the gravestone with the skull and crossbones in the Wyken Church cemetery in the early 1950's. It was also known as the 'sinking church'. Maybe it was built on an island with a moat to start with, hence the name 'sinking church'.

Many people believe the Freemasons to be directly descend from the Knights Templar. I doubt that very much. Stones with stylised motifs have nothing to do with pirates, it simply means your death journey is not over yet.

Hi Kaga, as a Master Mason, I can assure you that the link is that the Knights Templar is an additional Masonic order with Degrees open to those who have achieved Three Degrees and above with a firm belief in Christianity

Hi Wearethemods, the Crusades Knights were in the 11th century, the Templars early 12th century, and I believe the Freemasons 17th century - almost 600 years between. Where did you get to? (Joking!) The 'Franks' term was used to describe any westerner.

I lived not far from this church, in the 50s/60s, and it was always said that it was sinking. The adjacent ground, down to the river Sowe, often flooded in winter and Wyken Croft had a permanent raised duckboard `pavement` to walk on when the road was flooded. For much of the 50s, this ground was the main rubbish tip for Coventry and it was common to see seagulls scavenging there. Maybe this stabilized the church.