So it does me.

When I look at an ancient monument, and especially an old headstone, I find myself almost unconsciously retracing the years to the date that is written on the stone.

Why do you think that is?
Why should a monument be so stimulating to the imagination?
And why should a common headstone be more so than any other ?" "I suppose it is," I answered reflectively, "that a churchyard monument is a peculiarly personal thing and appertains in a peculiar way to a particular time.

And the circumstance that it has stood untouched by the passing years while everything around has changed, helps the imagination to span the interval.

And the common headstone, the memorial of some dead and gone farmer or labourer who lived and died in the village hard by, is still more intimate and suggestive.