Victorian Angels

Brompton Cemetery

Victorian stone carvings of angels in Brompton Cemetery

west London and other grave stones.

History

I Pray For You

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Brompton Cemetery with my DSLR camera. I shot a lot of images of the very nice stone carvings of angels there. I decided to enhance these pictures to bring out the beauty of the angels. Some of these stone statues have been there since the cemetery opened in 1846. I thought that the red and yellows would bring out the grainy texture that the angels and other gravestones have there. They have a very holy feel to them and are quite spiritual in appearance. Most of the angels are looking up to god or looking down at the love one they have lost.

The place is full of history the cemetery was one of seven large cemeteries and was founded by private companies in 1840. These cemeteries were called The Magnificent Seven. It was set up to cope with the over spill of the inner city burial grounds that were unable to cope with the rising number of deaths. The cemetery was designed by Benjamin Baud and set out in the style of St Peter's in Rome. The cemetery is rectangular in shape and is around 160,000m2 in size. It is design in such away that it gives the feel of an open-air cathedral. The centrepiece of the cemetery is the big domed chapel that is flanked by a number of catacombs. The catacombs were build to offer a cheaper alternative to being buried and having a burial plot. This idea did not take off and only 500 places were sold out of the thousands that were on offer.





Victorian Burial Customs

The Funeral




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Please Father

The Victorian funeral was a very elaborate affair with the coffins being intricately carved and gilded. Sometimes the horses that pull the hearse were dyed jet black and was fitted with black strapping and have sliver mouthpieces. The Victorians also used to ostrich feather plumes to adorned the hearse and horses. There would have professional mourners called mutes to walk in the funeral procession and to look melancholy. There would be pallbearers who carried batons, feather men and pages all dressed in gowns. These processions would start off at a walking pace and even taking a detour to incorporate important places so that there could maximum the display of mourning.  After a certain time everyone on foot would jump onto the coaches and the walk turned into a brisk trot. At the cemetery gates the procession would return to a walking pace once more. The service would take place and then the coffin would be lowered through the floor to the catacombs, or there would be a small ceremony by the graveside. Women were not aloud to attend this part of the funeral.

After the funeral a feast was held at the home of the deceased. This would be for all the family and distant relatives as well. Victorians would also send out cards to all the deceased friends, business friend and other acquaintances. The cards were supplied by the undertaker and were printed in black and sliver. The cards were embossed with symbols of grief. The cards were intended to remind people of the deceased so that they could pray for them. These cards were called mourning cards and contained all the information of the funeral day and times.             

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Door Way To ?

Flecher's Place

Mourning

The Victorians had very strict social codes to follow when it came death. In the early 1800's death was apart of every day life. The average time that a person was expected to live was only 42. The modern Victorians were expected to follow the rules on death and mourning or face scandal and ostracism from society. When someone died within the house the clocks would be stop at the time of death, mirrors would be covered so that the spirit could not get caught up within the frame of the mirror glass and the curtains would be drawn. The body had to be watched over at all times until the burial took place.

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I MissYou

Then a period of mourning would begin first with deep mourning this would last for a year and a day. Within this year women would only wear somber coloured clothes and the man would wear black armbands, hatbands and black gloves. There would be no social engagements. Some rich households would fit out all the servants in mourning clothes. The mourning customs were very complex and many women at to consult guidelines to make sure they were carrying out the process the right way.



Headstones Symbolism

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Child Angel

The Victorians were a very religious and spiritual people, they were expected to spend as much as they could afford to build a monument for their dear beloved. The Victorian graves were a much more elaborate affair just like the funeral. The monuments would be appropriate to the deceased and the family’s social status. The monuments were symbolic or religious with various statues like Angels, different types of Crosses, broken columns and wreaths. These were the main symbols of the era and what people of these days may not realize is that each symbol had its own meaning. If you walk through these old cemeteries you will notice that the Victorians tombs and statues are very elaborate. What I noticed when I was walking around Brompton cemetery was the large amount of angels on top of the tombs in all different types of posses. I wondered at the time if these had a meaning. When I came home I did some researched in to this idea and found that they did.

Angels generally mean a messenger between God and Man. This would depend on the pose that the angel was in. If the angel had a trumpet in their hands it would symbolize that the deceased was praying for or calling for resurrection rebirth. If the angel was in a somber pose like weeping this meant grief, or simply that the persons dead departed is being missed very deeply. An angel with its wings partially open or in a flying pose would mean rebirth or a guardian being with you at all times. Angels are an agent of god and more often the angel would be in pose were they would be pointing to the sky or heaven. This would symbolize spirituality with the angel guarding the dead. 

I Will Wait For You

The Victorians used other types of symbols like a broken column symbolizing that a life had been cut short. Wreaths symbolized victory in death and Christian eternity. The urn was a classic symbol simply meaning mortality of the soul and the cross with a circle around the cross piece would mean eternity. The Victorians were very much like the Egyptians with they tombs and Highgate cemetery is a good example of this with its Egyptians tomb like structures taken from Egypt architecture. A pyramid shaped tomb would symbolize eternity life and was thought to stop or prevent the devil reclining on the grave.

The modern funeral is not a very grand affair any more not like the Victorians one's were and it's a shame that people do not erect monuments for our dead any more. Yes we respect our dead but we do not build some kind of monument that will stand up for years and years so that people in the future could be remember that person. We just lay them to rest and place a modest type of headstone on the grave or a plaque. Maybe its money or just gone out of fashion who knows.


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Twined in Time



Little Angel

Heart of God