......I passed the entrance on a walk through Fulham.
It is hard by the Chelsea Football ground - which I'm sure makes it a very much less peaceful
place on football Saturdays. I've passed it a million times but never noticed it. (Because it was usually a Saturday and I was just trying to get beyond all the football fans in their shiny blue jerseys.)
It was opened in the mid 1800's and many of those interred here were veterans of World War I and II. Given that fact, it is all the more remarkable that many of the people buried here lived to very good old ages of 80 to 90. Must give credit to the wholesome English lifestyle, the good beer, and simple food and rain which must make for hardy souls.
It has that Dickensian, Edward Gorey gothic appeal. Unlike (the wonderful) Highgate, Pere Lachaise in Paris, or Recoleta (here) in Buenos Aires, there's noone really very famous here. Or famous at all.
You might find it hard to believe that it is newly operational, after a decade or so of closure to new burials.
It is welcoming to those who WANT TO BE ALONE
to pursue unimpeded their quotidien pleasures.
It appears, generally, that you will likely
NOT BE DISTURBED.
You will not find fresh flowers on most of these graves. And one might wonder what happened to those who might otherwise have left them. Also resting here?
Anyway, it's a lovely old walk to be had, smack dab in the bustle of West London. Earl's Court is just steps away. And a wonderful way to feel quite away from it all on your holiday. And one of those London places that make this city great.
If you're not the kind of person who's idea of "away" is roasting on a beach.
Buried in the cemetery are 289 Commonwealth service personnel of World War I and 79 of World War II whose graves are registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a few of whom are instanced in the list Notable Interments (below).[3]
Beatrix Potter, who lived in The Boltons nearby, took the names of many of her animal characters from tombstones in the cemetery and it is said that Mr. McGregor's walled garden was based on the colonnades. Names on headstones included Mr. Nutkins, Mr. McGregor, a Tod (with that unusual single 'd' spelling), Jeremiah Fisher, Tommy Brock - and even a Peter Rabbett.
The cemetery is today a cruising ground popular with West London's gay men scene.[4]
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looks like a nice peaceful walk
ReplyDeleteLooking at these pictures I see a place full of sweet solitude.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts go to all those people who are buried there.
And for most forget!
Walking there in the middle you are away from the crowds but you are not alone.
Une belle promenade (peut-être pas la nuit!) et moins fréquenté que le Père Lachise. Bonne journée!
ReplyDeleteLovely.
ReplyDeleteJolies photos. Je trouve les cimetières américains beaucoup plus jolis et moins sordides que ceux en France.
ReplyDeleteIl n'y a pas vraiment de célébrité, mais un petit coté jardin sauvage et herbes folles...! De très jolies photos pleines de sérénité...!
ReplyDeletei discovered brompton cemetery in the rain, just last summer. i was completely taken aback by its gravity, no graveness, no, what do i mean? like i said, it was raining, and then it started pouring down, so i needed sheltering around about those circular, erm, corridors. this little photographic walk has done me a world of good, remembering it all. thank you.
ReplyDeletecoincidentially, it is raining hard as i write this. ha.
n♥