Two Victorian Children’s Graves Unlike Anything I’ve Ever Seen.

“barrel vault” style grave, sometimes also called a coping stone grave or hog-back grave — depending on local terminology. Here’s what defines it: The grave has a rounded, arched top resembling the shape of a small barrel or half-cylinder. It covers the burial like a stone coffin lid rather than a flat headstone. These graves are often 19th-century child burials or Victorian memorials, designed to suggest the form of a sarcophagus. The style symbolizes protection and shelter, as though the deceased is safely enclosed beneath a stone “roof.”