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Mortal Remains: The history and present state of the Victorian and Edwardian cemetery
. Wheaton Publishers, bright clean copy, no markings, Professional booksellers since 1981
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1989
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April 21, 2015
This is the celebrated book which, together with Hugh Meller’s invaluable ‘London Cemeteries’, set many a taphophile on their career with the dead.
Published in 1989, it’s an overview of the large Victorian cemeteries that are in our large cities. Chris Brooks, the author, discusses the history of these places from the reasons for their creation to their current ( at the time of writing)status. He includes body-snatching and other cememteries such as Pere Lachaise.
The big municipal cemeteries were created largely as a result of the Industrial Revolution. As the cities rapidly expanded so did the problem of what to do with dead. Epidemics such as cholera, shorter life expectancies and cramped living conditions led to local churchyards being unable to cope. Charles Dickens describes several unpleasant churchyards with body parts exposed to the passerby and then there was the Enon chapel scandal as the authorities sought to find a way to deal with the problem.
These led to the Burial Acts and so the creation of proper, organised cemeteries. The Magnificent 7 London cemeteries came into being as a result. Lucinda Lambton has described them as a jet black necklace around London. Initially these large cemeteries were owned and managed by private companies who made a good living due to the Victorian cult of mourning. This was exemplified by Queen Victoria who never came out of mourning after Albert died. Burial wasn’t cheap in any of them even for the poor and they were thriving business concerns. Brooks’ research has been through and Abney Park in North London is and its burial of the poor takes up a chapter.
However, tastes changed and with the arrival of cremation the cemeteries began their slow decline. The companies went bust with very few remaining in private hands. Nunhead in SE London was locked up and abandoned to vandals and worse. Local councils were suddenly landed with a huge cemetery to maintain and often without the funds or sometimes the inclination to do anything. Nunhead became such a scandal that it was raised in Parliament and Southwark Council eventually bought it. At West Norwood, many irreplaceable and unique monuments were simply bulldozed by local council until it was stopped.
Brooks also mentions conservation approaches at Norwich’s Rosary cemetery and the future for these cities of the dead.
As a tour guide in one of the Magnificent 7 this book was of particular interest to me as it gave me more of the history and background to these places. However I think that since this book was published there has been more of an appreciation of these Victorian valhallas and the stories they can tell. Social history, art history, and even wildlife including butterflies and foxes, are what you can see on a walk through them. The book also includes a handy gazetteer of them with several from outside London.
It is sad that this is now out of print but I can recommend it if you can obtain a copy. A unique and indispensable book and a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf who is interested in this area.
Published in 1989, it’s an overview of the large Victorian cemeteries that are in our large cities. Chris Brooks, the author, discusses the history of these places from the reasons for their creation to their current ( at the time of writing)status. He includes body-snatching and other cememteries such as Pere Lachaise.
The big municipal cemeteries were created largely as a result of the Industrial Revolution. As the cities rapidly expanded so did the problem of what to do with dead. Epidemics such as cholera, shorter life expectancies and cramped living conditions led to local churchyards being unable to cope. Charles Dickens describes several unpleasant churchyards with body parts exposed to the passerby and then there was the Enon chapel scandal as the authorities sought to find a way to deal with the problem.
These led to the Burial Acts and so the creation of proper, organised cemeteries. The Magnificent 7 London cemeteries came into being as a result. Lucinda Lambton has described them as a jet black necklace around London. Initially these large cemeteries were owned and managed by private companies who made a good living due to the Victorian cult of mourning. This was exemplified by Queen Victoria who never came out of mourning after Albert died. Burial wasn’t cheap in any of them even for the poor and they were thriving business concerns. Brooks’ research has been through and Abney Park in North London is and its burial of the poor takes up a chapter.
However, tastes changed and with the arrival of cremation the cemeteries began their slow decline. The companies went bust with very few remaining in private hands. Nunhead in SE London was locked up and abandoned to vandals and worse. Local councils were suddenly landed with a huge cemetery to maintain and often without the funds or sometimes the inclination to do anything. Nunhead became such a scandal that it was raised in Parliament and Southwark Council eventually bought it. At West Norwood, many irreplaceable and unique monuments were simply bulldozed by local council until it was stopped.
Brooks also mentions conservation approaches at Norwich’s Rosary cemetery and the future for these cities of the dead.
As a tour guide in one of the Magnificent 7 this book was of particular interest to me as it gave me more of the history and background to these places. However I think that since this book was published there has been more of an appreciation of these Victorian valhallas and the stories they can tell. Social history, art history, and even wildlife including butterflies and foxes, are what you can see on a walk through them. The book also includes a handy gazetteer of them with several from outside London.
It is sad that this is now out of print but I can recommend it if you can obtain a copy. A unique and indispensable book and a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf who is interested in this area.
Displaying 1 of 1 review