ImagesBrighton pictures of the week 9-2-2004

IMAGESBRIGHTON photography by david gray
	L O N D O N C E M E T E R I E S
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 9 - 2 - 2 0 0 4

Cemeteries are often places rich in atmosphere and London's are no exception. There are over 3,000 acres of the city devoted to the dead and they contain a fantastic variety of statuary and funerary monuments. Lying beneath them are the famous and the infamous alongside millions of ordinary Londoners. Most of the large cemeteries were started in the 19th century to relieve the overcrowding of the city's ancient parish burial grounds and they are themselves now almost full up. Some are still well kept, but others are decayed, overgrown and mournful. Whatever their state, they are part of the living city, visited by many and a home to countless birds, squirrels and other wildlife. The pictures in this set include the cemeteries of Abney Park, Brockley, Brompton and Nunhead and they were taken between 1986 and 2004.

Entrance sign at the Brompton Cemetery in Kensington in February 2004 (image 2486-11)

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