Caroline at the Extra Mural Cemetery

Last week I visited venues that impact on everyone in Brighton Pavilion at some point, regardless of income or status – the city cemeteries.

I began the visit with Council staff and Councillor Leo Littman at the Lewes Road site.

This includes Victorian burial grounds alongside a garden of remembrance, a children’s memorial garden, the Registrar’s office at Woodvale Lodge and the Woodvale Crematorium.

The Extra Mural Cemetery (pictured) is no longer in use as a burial ground but includes a tomb and nature trail with reminders of Brighton lives past.

It includes the grave of Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays; Tom MS Highflyer, an African boy rescued from a slave ship, whose story can still be read on the gravestone; and Dorothy Stringer.

I then went on to Woodingdean to visit the site for a new Woodland Burial Ground, the existing one being full.

The site will be opening later this Spring and initial plans for the woodland planting suggest this will be a beautiful space for wildlife and private memories alike.