Vandals Destroy Ebenezer Scrooge’s Fictional Tombstone Featured in a Film Adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’
Located in an English churchyard, the stone was inscribed with the name “Ebenezer Scrooge” for the 1984 movie. Police are investigating the vandalism, which occurred earlier this month
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A vandal has destroyed the tombstone that marked Ebenezer Scrooge’s fictional grave in the 1984 film adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
The gravestone is located in Shrewsbury, a town in England’s West Midlands. Town officials say it was likely smashed on the evening of November 23, according to Nick Humphreys of the Shropshire Star.
“If the ghosts of past, present and future would like to visit [the vandals] in the middle of the night and drop them and break them in pieces, I think that would be a perfect punishment,” Helen Ball, the town council clerk, tells the Associated Press’ Brian Melley.
The town council is currently looking into whether the stone can be repaired. Meanwhile, local police are still investigating the incident.
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The movie adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel was filmed in Shrewsbury four decades ago. Throughout the movie, the ornery Scrooge (played by George C. Scott) is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
The Ghost of Christmas Past brings Scrooge back to his childhood, while the Ghost of Christmas Present shows him the joys and struggles of those in his community. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, cloaked in black like the Grim Reaper, wipes snow off the now-destroyed tombstone to reveal Scrooge’s name, showing his fate if he continues on his current path.
Since the movie’s debut, Scrooge’s tombstone has remained on the grounds of St. Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury. Ball tells BBC News’ Richard Price that the site is a popular tourist attraction.
“A lot of us go on a Christmas pilgrimage to see it,” she adds. “Whenever we have any friends or family who come to stay, we always make a point of taking them to it.”
The gravestone wasn’t always a prop. Before the film, it had marked a real grave in the churchyard for hundreds of years, according to BBC News’ Tim Page. The stone’s original inscription had faded over time, and the church permitted the film’s production team to inscribe the unknown grave with “Ebenezer Scrooge.”
“They had to go to the Home Office to get permission and the rest of it, but nobody knew [whose grave] it was,” Martin Wood, a Shrewsbury resident who appeared in the film, told the broadcaster in 2023. “If you look at the bottom of the grave nearest to the path, you can just make out a little bit of writing. It was [in] an ideal spot for what they wanted.”
After the grave was vandalized, Shrewsbury resident Louise Coupland launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise £1,000 for the costs of repairing the stone.
“There’s not much to see other than broken bits of the gravestone,” Ball tells the AP. “You can’t see that it says ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ at the moment because it’s so damaged. It’s hugely disrespectful.”