Monday 29 March 2010

Wossys Wife

In 'The Sun' last friday I noticed this article about Jonathan Ross's wife Jane who has purchased the skeleton of a baby with two heads from a shop in Hackney called 'The Little Shop of Horrors'.



Next time I'm around that area I may have to pop in and take a look to see what I can find.


Wednesday 24 March 2010

Charlton Cemetery: Thomas Murphy

Possibly the most famous memorial around Greenwich is that of Thomas Murphy in Charlton Cemetery. Murphy, who died in 1932, was the owner of Charlton Greyhound Track and to commemorate and memorialise this his trusty greyhounds guard his memorial.




I was unable to track down any more information on Murphy or his memorial but there are a few photographs of the memorial here: http://www.londonnecropolis.com/charltoncemetery.htm

Monday 22 March 2010

Charlton Cemetery

I visited Charlton Cemetry recently in the hopes of tracking down my great nan and grandads graves, however I was unable to find them. Charlton Cemetery is a working cemetery, as was affirmed when I got quite a scare by a grave digger appearing from a hole! Many of the graves here are so old that the grave stones have been weathered away and the engravings have completely dissapeared.



As with all the other cemeteries that I have visited the most popular statue appears to be that of an angel, however it was very noticable here as there were rows populated solely by angels lined up next to each other.Although nothing unusual about this statue itself I was struck by the way the eye area has been marked over time. This, along with the fact that she is almost completely hidden undermeath tree, to me it gives the woman a strange and un-angel like appearance. She has definatlely become one of the most unique things I have witnessed in a cemetery so far.





Friday 19 March 2010

Plumstead Cemetery



The entrance to Plumstead Cemetery is difficult to find as you have to travel up a side road and then into a small turning on the right, once inside you have to travel through the old church building.

Upon entering the cemetery I first noticed this angel carrying a child off to heaven. This cemetery has a particularly large section for children, however I did not feel comfortable photographing that section.



Another thing that I noticed about this cemetery was the mausoleum as it was the first one I have seen in the places I have visited so far.



I was also struck by this small statue as it differs in colour from most of the other statues in cemeteries, which are usually white.





Monday 15 March 2010

The Crying Child of Woolwich Cemetery

When i visisted Woolwich Cemetery I noticed this statue of what appears to be a child crying in the new half of the cemetery. Obviously it is not crying but the rain running down its face that gives the appearance that it is.






Thursday 11 March 2010

Woolwich Cemetery - The New Half

The new half of Woolwich Cemetery differs from the old half, it is still being used for burials so is a lot more modern.


Up until recently there was an old cottage at the entrance that was reminisscent of the wicked witches house in a fairy tale.


There are no distinguishing features to this half, except quite a high number of war graves.






When I visited I did, however, notice this cross with a woman hanging onto it. It struck me as unusual as I had never seen anything like it in any other cemetery I have visited.






Tuesday 9 March 2010

The Mystery Woman of Woolwich Cemetery

When I visited Woolwich Cemetery I photographed this statue of a woman holding a torch. The torch is upside down which traditionally suggests that the flame of life has been distinguished. There was no engravings that I could see to show who she was in memory of, which made me all the more enthralled by her. The look on her face is not one of sadness, rather she looks peaceful and content, this is a look that is common on the faces of the angels so often seencemeteries, but she does not appear to be an angel.

Woolwich Cemetery

I visited Woolwich Cemetery recently. It is a strange cemetery as it is split in to two halves, seperated by Rockliffe Gardens park in the middle. The eerie feeling that is commonly associated with cemeteries is absent in this cemetery but is present in the park. Perhaps this is something to do with the many deteriorated headstones that rest against the wall that seperates these two places.




The older half of the cemetery has its main enterance situated on Kings Highway and lies on a hill that leads upwards to Camdale Road. In this half lies a red brick church that, from its position at the top of the hill, overlooks the entire half of the cemetery.


The predominant feature in this half of the cemetery is the large celtic cross that commemorates the people who died in the sinking of the Princess Alice, however I found this old grave, unnusual with its iron rencing, to be much more alluring.

Monday 1 March 2010

The Princess Alice Monument


In the old half of Woolwich Cemetery lies the memorial for the sunken pleasure steamer 'The Princess Alice', which went down on Tuesday September 3rd 1878. The sinking has been described as the 'greatest tragedy ever seen on the Thames'.
Out of the 700 passengers on board only 69 survived. The mass funeral held for these people was attended by thousands, their sixpenny contributions paid for the large celtic cross that still stands today.
At the time of the tragedy untreated waste from the entire of London cascaded into the Thames, as a result many of the people who died did not drown but were rather poisoned.
More information about the incident can be found through the links below.