The Victorian Cemetery

The Victorian Cemetery by Sarah Rutherford A5, 64pp,

The Victorian period has been described as the ‘Great Age of Death’. The customs of death, notably burial and mourning were taken very seriously and elaborate rituals of commemoration were part of everyone’s lives. As demand grew for hygenic and dignified burial places, the humble parish graveyard – unable to cope – was joined by a newcomer to the landscape, the garden cemetery. The book tells the story of Victorian cemeteries in their many guises, of the variation in their size, design, planting and monuments, and how most of them survive to this day. Some having been neglected, take on a gloomy Gothic character, while others remain an oasis of rest and contemplation. Some of the cemeteries included are:- St. Bartholomew’s Cemetery Exeter, Highgate London, Gravesend in Kent & Armos Vale, Bristol Brockwood Cemetery near Woking and Horoforth Cemetery Leeds. Well illustrated with over 100 photos of graves, cemetery plots, mausoleums, graveyards & gravestones. There is also a list of cemeteries in the counties of England and web sites to visit.