CallMeAlan.uk

Southampton Old Cemetery, Southampton, Hampshire

This is the glorious and beautiful Southampton Old Cemetery. The cemetery has had various titles including The Cemetery by the Common, Hill Lane Cemetery and is currently known as Southampton Old Cemetery. An Act of Parliament was required in 1843 to acquire the land, and it covers an area of 27 acres (110,000 m2). The total number of burials is estimated at 116,800. Currently there are no new burials other than about 6 to 8 burials a year to existing family plots.

It is a lovely cemetery; wildly overgrown, and thus home to numerous rare and not so rare flowers, plants and birds. Indeed during my recent visit I heard birds I had never previously heard. Bold grey squirrels are in abundance.

I took a lot of pictures on my visit, and so my Old Cemetery record here at CallMeAlan is split into four albums of about 30 pictures each. As stated above, there are around 116,800 burials here, which means quite a lot of individual graves. My albums are not in any way designed to record these burials - that would be a mammoth task. I’ve set out to try to show the general overgrown state of the cemetery, where plants, grasses, trees and bushes exist side by side with the graves. There are numerous paths snaking through the site, offering access to most of the graves and their markers, but for a great many of the graves access is virtually impossible due to the undergrowth. Besides that, it could be quite risky to approach any of the more interesting memorials due to the risk of tripping over hidden low iron fences. There is a published mowing plan, which reveals which sections will be mown, while other sections are just left to flourish.

While the majority of the graves are simple - to a greater or lesser extent - crosses and headstones, there are quite a number of more unusual burial markers, and I’ll be attempting to show you some of these and perhaps comment upon them, but most of all, enjoy the natural green environment of this lovely place. Please also, as you browse, take a moment to appreciate the results I’m enjoying getting with my new Sigma dp0 Quattro camera, and its ultra-wide angle lens. You can also read my review of this camera here at CallMeAlan.

Sigma dp0 Quattro