London Cemeteries

Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery

Sue — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:19:01 +0000

In an utterly shameless bit of SEOery, here are a couple of old (2005 I think) photos of Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery, where Amy Winehouse's funeral took place today. The cemetery was opened in 1974, and controversial plans for its expansion … Continue reading →

8 London cemeteries win Green Flags

Sue — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:47:05 +0000

Congratulations to the City of London, Croydon, Westminster Hanwell, East Finchley, Gunnersbury, Margravine, Mill Hill and Wood Green cemeteries, who have been awarded a Green Flag for 2011. City of London was also named as a Green Heritage Site. My … Continue reading →

Cems on film : Back to Black

Sue — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:51:51 +0000

Starring Abney Park Cemetery as well as Amy Winehouse. Love the song, love the vid, love (obviously) the cemetery.

St. Martin’s Gardens

Sue — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:17:31 +0000

In 1802, an Act of Parliament was passed to turn four acres of farmland in north London into Camden Town Cemetery, as the new burial ground for St. Martin's in the Fields. The Act provided for the building of a … Continue reading →

Longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

Sue — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:32:02 +0000

When the news of Amy Winehouse's death broke last night, one of my earliest thoughts was that I should get down to Camden Square and see what was happening. Call me ghoulish or intrusive if you like: I'm just interested … Continue reading →

The very evil custom of interring the dead in towns

Sue — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:05:57 +0000

I love this article from the Penny Magazine of August 2nd, 1834. It was published 18 months after the first burial took place in Kensal Green Cemetery. It's a great bit of PR, and Mr Carden, the General Cemetery Company … Continue reading →

Brompton Cemetery’s damp open day

Sue — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:11:44 +0000

It was, it must be said, a somewhat soggy day for Brompton Cemetery's Open Day. But the Friends are an incorrigibly cheerful bunch, and soldiered on, with or without umbrellas. I had an excellent tour of the above-ground cemetery with … Continue reading →

Some corner of a foreign road : the Huguenot Burial Ground

Sue — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 19:53:45 +0000

Apropos of nothing at all, one of the stories I've always loved in Isabella Holmes' The London Burial Grounds is her climbing over walls to check out burial sites she couldn't otherwise access. I hope she wore rational dress, because … Continue reading →

Book report : London Cemeteries

Sue — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:45:53 +0000

Meller and Parsons is the Lewis and Short of London cemeteryism: encyclopaedic, essential and it weighs a ton. In the decade or so that I've been photographing London's cemeteries, it seems that their fortunes are changing. The neglect of the … Continue reading →

Royal Family burials part 4 : the Stuarts

Sue — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:04:21 +0000

I must confess, I have a bit of a mental block about the Stuarts. I can never remember that Charles II and James II are brothers, and then I get caught up in trying to figure out what relation Queen … Continue reading →