If you like Victorian angels...

Aline writes: If you like Victorian angels, you should have been with me at the open day at Brompton Cemetery! Brompton cemetery is one of the seven cemeteries built outside of London in the mid-1800’s. These cemeteries were built because of the population explosion in London (from 1 million to 2.5 million people in less than 50 years). The churchyards where people were traditionally buried became overfull and unhygienic, and after an act by Parliament, private cemeteries were allowed. Unlike some of the other cemeteries built in the mid-nineteenth century, Brompton is not located in a particularly scenic area, so the emphasis was on built architecture. It has a majestic entrance


Four colonnades forming a circle (with catacombs)


and a chapel along a long avenue.


Unfortunately, it was much too ambitious a plan, and so not all the planned buildings were completed, and the corporation that built it went bankrupt within a few years.

The open day was run by the friends of Brompton cemetery, who provided tours of the cemetery and catacombs, as well as stalls providing tea, jams, snacks, and jumble. People brought picnics to eat among the gravestones.

As you would expect, there are many beautiful Victorian angel sculptures









The walking tour was fascinating, providing lots of the information I included above. We walked around the grounds for over an hour, looking at many interesting monuments, including one designed by Burne-Jones for one of the arts and crafts movement sponsors


There are also other examples of the arts and crafts movement, such as this door from a large tomb



And these sculptures





And of course there was a small Goth contingent, as you might expect in a Victorian cemetery


I took a tour of the catacombs - unfortunately, no photos were allowd of the mouldering coffins, but here is the entrance



And this was one of my favorite tombs, a monument to a Victorian boxer



It’s quite a wild place, as you can see



But ultimately it's the stories the gravestones tell about the people who lived here that are so fascinating. For example, there was a Sioux Indian who died in the late 1800's in London. He would ordinarily be buried in tribal ground, but the trip back to the American Southwest was too far, so he was buried in Brompton. Several years ago someone who lived near the cemetery took an interest in his story, tracked down his descendants, and he was exhumed and buried in his tribal land just 7 years ago. A full Victorian horse-drawn hearse took his body from the cemetery to the airport. Another gravestone revealed that a family lost 4 children in one day due to whooping cough. It's a little window onto the past...