the.com/sexton
The guy with the graveyard keys, long before 'facilities management' sounded fancy.
means A church officer who takes care of the building and churchyard, traditionally including digging graves, ringing bells, and general upkeep.
from Comes from 'sexteyn,' a medieval form of 'sacristan' — the keeper of the sacristy, the room where sacred vestments and vessels were stored. That traces back to Latin 'sacer,' meaning sacred. Over time the job widened from guarding holy objects to minding the whole churchyard — bells, keys, and eventually the shovel.
- job scope
- Digs graves, rings bells, keeps the church tidy
- word origin
- Comes from sacristan, keeper of sacred things
- bell duty
- Historically tolled bells to announce deaths
- literary cameo
- Dickens and Hardy loved giving sextons dry wit