Obelisk and Sarcophagus silhouette, Kensal Green
(courtesy of Barry Smith, FOKG)
Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.
Introduction
The large and often sadly neglected cemeteries we see in out cities today are a largely nineteenth century phenomena. How they came to be created is the result of a mixture of social and cultural, which originated in the eighteenth century. These factors influenced a number of key individuals in the first half of the nineteenth century and led ultimately to the creation of the garden cemetery. They remain one of the most important legacies of the Victorian age due to their poignant expressions of contemporary religious sensibilities, attitudes to death and the transience of life. Such expressions are reflected in the complex and sentimental symbolism of funerary monuments and architecture.
All Souls Kensal Green in north west London is one of the finest examples of the Victorian garden cemetery in the world, unmatched in the UK in its range and richness of graves, memorials and mausolea. This web site is a modest celebration of Kensal Green and the people who created it and for whom it is their final resting place. It examines the development of the garden cemetery, looks how Kensal Green came to be built and shows what the cemetery looks like today. Click here to begin the Kensal Green story.
The site is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox, which can be downloaded for free from here.
Visitors since 1.7.2006
