More and more people are discovering London’s past using cheap hotels. By visiting cemeteries no less. London cemeteries give one a glimpse of the way the Victorians like to honour their dead with fantastic monuments to their dearly departed. London graveyards are fascinating places and are good examples of the Gothic influence with their catacombs, statues and monuments. They are also peaceful places, away from the roar of the traffic and enable one to have a time of reflection or indeed pilgrimage as a lot of notable people are buried in London clay.
One lesser known graveyard in London has to be Bunhill Fields, just north of the city of London. Created at the end of the 17th, century, this four acre site was originally conceived as a burial plot for non-conformists. Indeed within its confines lie the bones of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers. It also boasts the graves of three great writers, Daniel Defoe, William Blake and the writer of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, John Bunyan. This cemetery was used right up until the middle of the 19th century and is still host to a lot of visitors today.
The most famous London cemetery has be Highgate Cemetery though. Many London hotels have information leaflets relating to it as it has become very popular. Known for its monument to the founder of communism, Karl Marx, it is worth visiting not only for its fantastic, surreal monuments and statues, which are right out of a Gothic horror novel, but also to visit the graves of such worthies as Beryl Bainbridge, the novelist, George Eliot, the writer, Sir Ralph Richardson and Christina Rossetti, poet, author and brother of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the pre-Raphael brotherhood. The inventor and physicist, Michael Faraday also lies here.
West London is the site for another eminent cemetery, the Kensal Green cemetery. This was opened in 1832 in response to the need for new graveyards as London’s populace was increasing at a great rate and the church graveyards could not keep pace. This graveyard became very fashionable after 1843, when a member of the monarchy was buried there. He was Augustus Frederick, the son of George lll and Queen Charlotte. Augustus had the dubious distinction of being the first royal to be buried in a public cemetery. His sister wished to be buried by him and in 1848, her wish came true and she was buried here also. As well as royalty, this graveyard also has the bones of the Victorian novelist, Wilkie Collins, William Thackeray and Anthony Trollope. More modern burials include the great playwright, Harold Pinter. The famous builder Isambard Kingdom Brunel lies here as does Charles Blondin, famous for his tightrope walking. The famous mathematician and pioneer of computing, Charles Babbage has a grave here. In this one graveyard are so many of the leading lights of Victorian England.
Edinburgh too has its own famous graveyards, called kirkyards. Staying at one of the Edinburgh hotels gives one the opportunity to view these very tranquil places. The most famous is Greyfriars Kirkyard which houses the grave of a Skye terrier called Bobby, otherwise known as Greyfriars Bobby. This little dog loved his master so much that even when his master, Jock Gray, died, the little dog couldn’t bear to be parted from him and slept on his grave for 13 years afterwards. Both graves are in the kirkyard. Also in this place lie the bones of William McGonagall, Spike Milligan’s favourite poet.
One lesser known graveyard in London has to be Bunhill Fields, just north of the city of London. Created at the end of the 17th, century, this four acre site was originally conceived as a burial plot for non-conformists. Indeed within its confines lie the bones of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers. It also boasts the graves of three great writers, Daniel Defoe, William Blake and the writer of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, John Bunyan. This cemetery was used right up until the middle of the 19th century and is still host to a lot of visitors today.
The most famous London cemetery has be Highgate Cemetery though. Many London hotels have information leaflets relating to it as it has become very popular. Known for its monument to the founder of communism, Karl Marx, it is worth visiting not only for its fantastic, surreal monuments and statues, which are right out of a Gothic horror novel, but also to visit the graves of such worthies as Beryl Bainbridge, the novelist, George Eliot, the writer, Sir Ralph Richardson and Christina Rossetti, poet, author and brother of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the pre-Raphael brotherhood. The inventor and physicist, Michael Faraday also lies here.
West London is the site for another eminent cemetery, the Kensal Green cemetery. This was opened in 1832 in response to the need for new graveyards as London’s populace was increasing at a great rate and the church graveyards could not keep pace. This graveyard became very fashionable after 1843, when a member of the monarchy was buried there. He was Augustus Frederick, the son of George lll and Queen Charlotte. Augustus had the dubious distinction of being the first royal to be buried in a public cemetery. His sister wished to be buried by him and in 1848, her wish came true and she was buried here also. As well as royalty, this graveyard also has the bones of the Victorian novelist, Wilkie Collins, William Thackeray and Anthony Trollope. More modern burials include the great playwright, Harold Pinter. The famous builder Isambard Kingdom Brunel lies here as does Charles Blondin, famous for his tightrope walking. The famous mathematician and pioneer of computing, Charles Babbage has a grave here. In this one graveyard are so many of the leading lights of Victorian England.
Edinburgh too has its own famous graveyards, called kirkyards. Staying at one of the Edinburgh hotels gives one the opportunity to view these very tranquil places. The most famous is Greyfriars Kirkyard which houses the grave of a Skye terrier called Bobby, otherwise known as Greyfriars Bobby. This little dog loved his master so much that even when his master, Jock Gray, died, the little dog couldn’t bear to be parted from him and slept on his grave for 13 years afterwards. Both graves are in the kirkyard. Also in this place lie the bones of William McGonagall, Spike Milligan’s favourite poet.
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