Nature thrives among gravestones

By Roger Finn
BBC South Today

Volunteers uncover hidden glories by cleaning off old graves

A group of conservation volunteers has been working to try to bring a Southampton cemetery back to its former glory, stripping back the ivy, cutting down invasive saplings and clearing away the brambles and scrub.

Like many Victorian cemeteries, Southampton's Old Cemetery, alongside Southampton Common, was built to solve a crisis.

By the 1840s, traditional church graveyards around Britain were full and the need for more burial space was urgent as city populations boomed and disease took its toll.

Southampton allocated an area of common land for a cemetery in 1846 and over the next 60 years around 116,000 people were buried amongst the conifers and yew trees in a burial ground that now covers 27 acres.

Members of Southampton's most illustrious families lie in grand, brick-lined tombs. Many of them put money aside to pay for their own funeral, to avoid the indignity of a state-funded burial.

Their funerals would consist of a grand procession, led by horse and carriage, and the family would often pay to have extra mourners present.

Paupers and prostitutes were buried nearby beside simple metal markers. In cases of extreme poverty, the identities of the deceased have been withheld, and no headstones are present.

In the Old Cemetery there are also 44 headstones associated with the Titanic.

By the 1980s much of the cemetery had been allowed to run wild and nature had taken over.

The ivy got into cracks and gradually split the tombs apart. It also covered over some fascinating jewels of history.

Five years ago a group of conservation volunteers started meeting every month to prevent further damage and uncover the graves.

The cemetery is also a vibrant wildlife habitat. It has a rich variety of plant life and is home to twenty six species of butterfly.

The team works under the direction of naturalist John Vetterlein who is keen to protect the natural riches of the site.

They have been so successful that now hundreds of people come for regular guided tours of the cemetery. The Friends of Southampton Cemetery organise these to help preserve and maintain interest in these special places in the city.