Tower and Town, July 2018 (view the full edition)The Victorian Cemetery TodayWhat first drew me to the Victorian Cemetery? I think it has to be the magnificent Cedar of Lebanon which helps to give an air of grandeur, also the 581 gravestones with many local family and business names; some are grand monuments and headstones with iron railing, pronouncing how you were perceived in life and your status in death, many being past Mayors of Marlborough. 
The fact that a large part of the cemetery has been allowed to revert back to nature adds to its charm, with a profusion of snowdrops and daffodils in the spring. The exception is the Paupers Grave where a lone Sarsen Stone denotes the resting place of over 800 persons. For these poor souls, mainly from St. Luke's Workhouse, this was their common grave. The area now is just a large stretch of grass mowed regularly by the Marlborough Town Council. In 2014 we had an old fallen tree, and with the Town Council's mechanical digger we used sculptured pieces to make a foxglove dell around the Paupers Grave which gives a living warmth and enhances that rather stark area. The Friends of the Victorian Cemetery group started in 2014 with volunteers made up of Town Councillors and locals who met then once a month on a Sunday morning to help clear around the graves. They strimmed the undergrowth and tackled briars, overgrown ivy and stinging nettles which were endangering the stones. They also painted the wrought iron gates. Since then, slow but steady progress is being made towards our goal of restoring the site. Though we can never turn the clock back to its former glory we can ensure that this beautiful Victorian Cemetery is a living space for wild life and is a peaceful environment for all to sit and think, not just about the living, but pay homage to the dead . For more information follow this link: 
Margaret Rose |