A Day With The Dead
By Catherine Hadler
9 June 2008
Kensal Green Cemetary in West London is a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic drama. It was the first of London's 'Gardens of the Dead' and doubles as a nature reserve.
Conceived at a time when London was struck by a cholera epidemic thought to be caused by the City's overflowing graveyards, Kensal Green received Royal assent in 1832. In its first 20 years, 20,000 people were buried here, including various Royals, giving the place a fashionable reputation.
Of the thousands of people buried here, a few of the most notable include William Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair, Anthony Trollope and Wilkie Collins.
When I wander through the graves I like to think of the lives of the more ordinary people who have ended their journeys here. It is a fascinating place, full of parents, children, brothers and sisters, migrants, authors, actors, engineers - a spectrum of lives and interests. Some of the graves here are simple and modest whilst others appear to be monuments to either the egos of the interned or to the love and pain of the people they left behind.
Some of the older areas of the graveyard have been left to nature and the mausoleums are now home to birds and foxes. On my last visit I was shadowed for a while by an aging urban fox.
I have recently experienced a sudden death in my family and it has made me think about the strength and fragility of life and also that death is the most natural thing in the world. I feel as though I am just starting to get to know my Father in a different way, and while he isn't here any more I am looking forward to getting to know him better through the memories of the many people who knew and respected him.
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