Day 55. Ascending to Imbolc. Visiting Southampton’s historic cemetery

This weekend I had a stroll around the beautiful old cemetery in Southampton.

Located on the edge of the Common - a huge area of parkland on the edge of the City - the graveyard has a higgledy piggledy charm and a beautifully natural kind of peace.

Mature trees weave in between the gravestones and mausoleums. Corvids, squirrels and city rats gouge boldly in between the stone monuments.

I’ve never seen such a wildlife-friendly graveyard, and it’s still in use, after the first burial there in the 1840s. There are graves for some of the victims from Southampton who were lost in The Titanic, and different areas for different faiths.

All cemeteries have a peacefulness to them I think, but the fact that this one is managed in such a gently wild way adds an extra something. It’s beautiful and so worth a visit.

You can see a little video of my trip here.

And read more about the cemetery here. 

 

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