Seven Interesting Facts about London’s Magnificent Seven Victorian Cemeteries
In the early 1800’s London’s churchyards had become full of burials, and some people believed that burying so many dead near the centre of London was bad for the city’s health. Private investors began to plan new super cemeteries outside built up London. The first seven of these have become known as the Magnificent Seven. They are wonderful stores of Victorian architecture as well as green spaces for wildlife.
1. A Pyramid For London’s Dead
The first plan proposed the construction of a giant pyramid on top of Primrose Hill with room for 5 million dead Londoners. It would have been taller than St Paul’s Cathedral. This was impractical and Kensal Green Cemetery was built instead
2. Reflecting Britain’s Imperial Past
Some of the tombs at Kensal Green reflect Britain’s imperial past – Sir William Casement was a General in the East India Company army. He was due to retire to London but died of cholera a few days before.
3. Not such a plain burial
Se captain John Wimble said he did not want an extravagant grave, but his wife Mary Ann couldn’t leave it at that and had this tomb topped with a ship at West Norwood cemetery
4. The stage is set
The companies that owned the Magnificent Seven cemeteries were in competition with each other. So Highgate cemetery built this dramatic entrance to its tombs to encourage people to be buried there. It was used as the set for the opening of the horror film, Tales From The Crypt.
5. A Faithful Hound
Boxer Thomas Sayers had thousands of fans who paid for his tomb at Highgate. They felt it could not be complete without his faithful mastiff dog Lion being represented by his side.
6. Tomb of a Lion Tamer
Circus Showman Frank Bostock is buried at Abney Park. He was the first lion tamer to use a chair to control lions, working out that the four legs of the chair confused the animal. On his death in 1912 he owned amusement parks around the world.
7. So that’s where the pens went
A more recent burial at Highgate is the writer Douglas Adams, who wrote The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. His grave contains a pot to put pens in, as he once wrote about a place in the universe where all the pens disappear to.
You can find out more about The Magnificent Seven – London’s Victorian Cemeteries in my course at Morley College which starts on 6th November.
– Robert Smith
