Mourning fashions were primarily for the widows. Widows were expected to wear full mourning dress which consisted of black crape, a heavy wool and cotton mix textile dress . After a year and a day widows would be allowed to wear widows silks, and then after two years purple or mauve would be worn, this […]
The painting depicts a corpse of prostitute under a bridge in London,Waterloo bridge and the Thames was associated with the death of fallen woman. The death of such woman were idealised and redeemed by ending there lives in such a tragic and melancholic death. The poem by Thomas Hood inspired the fashion for such […]
Ode to Melancholy No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss’d By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine; Make not your rosary of yew-berries, Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl […]
To download the trail visit the Gardens of the dead blog at https://greatgardensofthedead.wordpress.com and go to the cemetery trails page.
The gravestone of the murdered girl from Eltham is decorated with symbols imagery; Doves symbolise the divine spirit in a glory of light and later in the 18th century innocence or purity. Roses symbolise beauty. Bible & cross symbolises devotion to Christianity. Serpent circle and inverted torch symbolises the extinguishing of life and the serpent […]
These headstones are particularly Impressive, elaborate and made of pink Peterhead granite of Scotland and black Gabbro, Rusten granite from South Africa compared the other headstone in Brockley cemetery, mostly made of grey granite, probably from Cornwall.The Headstones are mainly obelisks, angels, crosses and broken columns. This particular area of the cemetery is in the […]
The city of Absent When I think I deserve particularly well of myself, and have earned the right to enjoy a little treat, I stroll from Covent-garden into the City of London, after business-hours there, on a Saturday, or– better yet–on a Sunday, and roam about its deserted nooks and corners. It is necessary to […]
Song When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget. I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel […]
John Evert Millias (1829-1896) was an artist in London part of the Pre- Raphaelite brotherhood with William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, all student at the Royal Academy of Art. This painting is an example of the representation of death and beauty in death in the 18th century, surrounded by nature and suggestions of spirituality.
In the morn, full of pride – in the evening they died: How sudden and shocking their fate! The three little kittens, who still wore their mittens, Were buried next morning in state! This was a popular children’s books in the 18th century to teach children about death as it was a common assurance in […]
The great gardens of the dead 