The prose of Victorian memorial tablets can sometimes be so Lengthy that one does not trouble to read the inscription to its conclusion, or to ponder what the words might mean.

A large, two part white marble tablet on the wall at the sanctuary steps at the redundant All Saints’ Church in Langport is lengthy in its words; it is in its final lines that there are words to prompt thoughts.

ERECTED
IN MEMORY OF
EDWARD THOMAS MICHELL
YOUNGEST SON OF
THE REV JOHN MICHELL L.L.D.
OF HUISH…