STORIES IN STONE

Cemeteries originally existed to fulfill the sanitary function of disposing of the dead, often in overcrowded churchyards or in the middle of farmers' fields. In the early 1800s, however, a movement of interring the urban dead in large green spaces outside city limits spread across the country. These spaces were more natural, picturesque botanical gardens where visitors could spend leisure time with their ancestors. Planting flowers, having picnics, and going for strolls were commonplace within Victorian cemeteries. From this rural cemetery movement came the rise of public parks, separating the two spaces.