Fourth Colloquium on Cemeteries

ABSTRACTS

The characteristics and aesthetics of Victorian mourning: the case of Nunhead cemetery

Rachel Spires, Department of Historical Studies, Goldsmiths College

This paper will examine aspects of Victorian mourning focusing on the example of Nunhead cemetery. Death and burial are of increasing historiographical interest, particularly so in the case of the Victorians who turned the representation of death into an art form, replete with images, customs and traditions. Disposal was moved away from inner-city areas in graveyards to cemeteries, which were located on the outer edges of urban areas. This shift was in part due to the conditions of urban graveyards where, body snatching, communal or mass graves, and unsanitary conditions were becoming common.

The new cemeteries (run by private companies) were designed to exemplify the relationship between the monument and nature, with a common thematic of symbolism and mourning, providing a new environment for grief which centred eventually around Victorian high mourning. The move from graveyard to cemetery represents a decoding of the ritual, sacred and secular notions of remembrance, which have specific class, gender and cultural connotations. This also correlates with the changing geographies of mourning from the inner urban areas to the different environment of the countryside, with its romantic idealised surroundings, apparent notions of peace and rest, which become significant when located within the discourses of the living.

There are trends and fashions within monuments at Nunhead, some of which do not originate in Christian symbolism or ritual. I hope to analyse the status of these memorials, such as urns or obelisks. Nora has noted that memorials can also be expressions of either 'dominant or dominated' political will. He has continued to argue that memorials are an example of a specific topography of diverse representational forms, which articulate the heritage of a given community. My paper will discuss the inter-relation of private and public spheres of mourning.

'Violating the sepulchres of the dead': How responses to grave-robbing influenced cemetery design in 19th century Scotland

Ronnie Scott, Department of History, University of Glasgow

Grave-robbing and the fear of grave-robbing provoked a variety of reactions in Scotland in the early part of the nineteenth century. This paper will explore these responses and examine how they influenced the design and operation of burying grounds, even after the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832. Families used a variety of strategies to fend off the attentions of grave robbers, from putting quick-lime in coffins to constructing iron enclosures over lairs. Some poorer families could only delay burial until the corpse was beyond use. Members of families of all social levels kept watch over burying places for a number of days. Burying grounds increased perimeter security, built watch-houses and towers, and employed or encouraged groups of guards. They also included in their rules and regulations the stipulation that private graves should be made secure. Some rented stone slabs or iron mort safes, which protected coffins from exhumation, or mort houses, where coffins could be kept securely until putrefaction rendered the corpse valueless. Community leaders directed officers of the town watch or police force to increase their vigilance. They also set up or encouraged watch societies, and, where they had ownership or control of burying grounds, increased physical security. They also instituted criminal proceedings against grave robbers and anatomists. Members of communities also resorted to extra-legal activities, rioting in the streets after particularly offensive instances of grave-robbing, and often going on to attack the premises and homes of doctors or surgeons suspected of obtaining corpses for dissection.Many of these responses were incorporated into memorial and cemetery design, and this paper will examine, with appropriate illustrations, how this influence had a lasting effect on Scottish burying grounds.

Woodland Burial: Will what you see be what you get?

Mr Andy Clayden, Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield

Since Ken West established the first Woodland burial site in 1994 at Carlisle there has been growing media interest in this alternative form of burial. There are now in excess of 160 Woodland burial grounds (Natural Death Centre 2002) and many different interpretations of what woodland burial is and how it should be implemented. Different interpretations have significant implications in terms of creating new woodland and in providing a desirable memorial landscape.

This paper will draw on research which was conducted in the summer of 2002 when a selection of woodland burial grounds were visited and informal interviews were conducted with the manager of each burial ground. The woodland burial grounds visited include sites owned and managed by the private sector, local authorities, and the Church of England. The main purpose of the site visits and interviews was to gain a better understanding of how woodland burial is being interpreted and implemented and to evaluate what implications this might have in meeting the needs of the bereaved and in creating areas of new woodland.

Four separate case studies will be explored in detail, two from the private sector, one local authority and one Church of England. For each case study a schematic plan will be presented which will summarise how the burial ground has been designed and organised. There will be a discussion of how each of the different approaches will influence the establishment of new planting and the character of the emerging woodland and how this may effect the bereaved in locating, accessing and tending the grave. Consideration will also be given to how the grave is marked and how the individual memorial, which may include the planting of a tree, may be treated as part of a collective woodland memorial.

The Carved Stones Adviser Project: creating an integrated approach tothe conservation of Scotland's historic graveyards

Susan Buckham, Council for Scottish Archaeology

Anecdotal evidence shows that Scotland's historic graveyards are deteriorating at an alarming rate and that positive intervention has become necessary to ensure their future protection. In 2001, the Carved Stones Adviser Project (CSAP) was established as a joint initiative between the Council for Scottish Archaeology and Historic Scotland. The project's general aim is to support and promote the protection and enjoyment of Scotland's historic graveyards. As part of this remit CSAP is undertaking primary research to determine the current condition graveyards and gravestones in Scotland. It is intended that the findings of this investigation will be fed back to the key agencies, groups and individuals who have a vested interest in the nation's graveyards to benefit the future conservation of burial grounds.It is impossible - and indeed arguably undesirable - to conserve each and every graveyard and gravestone in Scotland. It is crucial, however, to ensure that the limited resources available for conservation become targeted most effectively. Following on from this premise research has four main objectives: firstly, to develop a better appreciation of the qualities which make Scottish graveyards of particular cultural significance; secondly, to identify and quantify the main threats to gravestone and graveyard preservation; thirdly, to assess the strengths and failings of present conservation practise; and finally, to explore the extent to which the relationships between cultural value, environment, management, and use may affect graveyard preservation.Since data analysis remains at a preliminary stage, this paper will focus upon project's research agenda and methods. Discussion is divided into four parts. The paper begins with a brief summary of the specific context for research, highlighting where relevant how graveyard conservation in Scotland differs from England. Discussion will then explore how the broader context within which graveyard conservation operates can affect the interpretation and protection of the cultural significance at individual sites. Having demonstrated this association, the paper will then describe how the project's research methods will provide data to investigate the four objectives set out above. The paper will conclude with a brief discussion of how the project hopes to develop in the future.