# The forgotten ones - Islington (St Pancras) Cemetery



## PrincessVenom (Dec 28, 2010)

Went for a visit to St Pancras cemetery this afternoon, seeing as it's just down the road from me. 

First obstacle was getting to the bloomin' place. Ice all over the pavements. I pretty much skated there. At this point I'm quite glad I left the dog at home snoring on the bed, seeing as he's an 8 stone Doberman and I don't even weigh 7 stone. Could be interesting if he decided to charge off to say hello to another dog 
Second obstacle came as I walked through the woods to get there:






Nice icey watery lake formed over the path! Complete with ethreal mist.

So I had to tramp around the long way to get to the fence that I climb through (yes, yes, I know there is a proper entrance on the road, but that's an even longer walk, and I refuse to drive unless I REALLY have to!) 

Anyways, through the fence I finally went, into the rather aptly misty, spooky looking graveyard. 





Decayed old sign for the 'road' the graves are on





Pile of rubbled headstones around a tree





Strange random skeleton of a VW. Strange that somebody would just leave an abandoned car in a place of rest.










More of inside the car





Ivy-smothered grave from 1860 





Some kind of family crypt, with fairly modern metal/bricked up entrance. I contemplated seeing if the metal door slid away, but it was a little too close to what appeared to be the admin building, with cars driving around the 'road'. Didn't fancy explaining that one.





Yet another long since forgotten about, abandoned car. Can't even begin to ID the model.





Completely eroded headstone, with fallen tree roots growing around it!





Another completely eroded headstone, and it's neighbour being strangled with ivy.





Headstones long forgotten in the trees.





More erosion, more trees.





Nature reclaims...





Recently crumbled headstone, again completely eroded. Vandals, or Father Time in league with Mother Nature?

And that is all. I was quite surprised at the amount of completely eroded headstones, as well as the amount of gravesites which had been completely destroyed by the elements. There were many which had quite literally been scattered by large trees growing from the middle of the headstone/stone surround. Makes me wonder if the remains ever make it to the surface? And if so, what on earth happens to them?  
The other thing I found interesting was how some graves were dated from the mid to late 1800's, and had fully readable inscriptions on them, yet there were others from the 1920s or so which were almost completely erased. There were also many graves from as early as 1900 which seemed to still be tended by people - glass vases with rotting flowers in them and so on - how many generations must have passed since their death? Yet people are still going and remembering them and tending the grave of somebody they almost certainly never met. But there were still many, many graves from mid 1900 which had been long since forgotten about. 
I also ventured into the 'modern' area whilst making my way back. It's still at the very rear of the cemetery, and I'm assuming it must be either the cremation area, or the 'pauper' area, as the gravesites were very, very tiny. I was quite shocked to see that despite these graves being dated in the 1950-1970's, some of them were without headstones - they had simply branches or planks of wood strapped together to form a cross, wedged into the ground. One even had the name scribbled on, almost carelessly, in white paint. It was a very odd thing to see, especially beside graves covered in trinkets, cards, flowers and wreaths.

Spent probably only around an hour there in the end. Would have liked to go over to the other very far side, but I'd discovered that I was wearing wholly inappropriate footwear for climbing through vines and woodland scrub - my feet were soaking and cold, and my shoes covered in mud and ice. So I started to make my way back. One more surprise awaiting me on my walk back to the fence though - a complete large tray of eggs and a packet of 8 raw chicken legs!?! One can only assume somebody must have been feeding the foxes? I even checked the sale by date  Dec 30! So pretty darn fresh, too! People do abandon some funny things!


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## Foxylady (Dec 28, 2010)

Fabulous first thread, PrincessV. Beautiful pics...the mist is wonderful. Interesting site and write-up.
Cheers.


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## PrincessVenom (Dec 28, 2010)

Thank you 

The mist was really quite spectacular. Coppetts Wood can look pretty spooky at the best of times, and to see it cloaked in this mist, at 2pm in the afternoon made it look like something out of Sleepy Hollow. Really set the scene for me!


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## RichardH (Dec 28, 2010)

Oh, wow.

I'm not often speechless.


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## night crawler (Dec 28, 2010)

Superb post I'd love to visit a graveyard like that. As for the damaged headstone, it looks like the frost got to it and it crumbled when it thawed out, noticed the same on some concrete on a pillbox yesterday.


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## banshee (Dec 28, 2010)

great pics  will be over there tomorrow to the old mans grave. must remember to take the camera .some great big tombs about the place too.used to roam about the place years ago and even stayed there all night as a dare with some mates :arghh:

be careful over there Venom as the muggers are about !!


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## Scaramanger (Dec 28, 2010)

A bit different from the norm and so nice to see. A total contrast from St Ives where I was earlier today. 12 degrees and so didn't need a coat !


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## oldscrote (Dec 28, 2010)

What a serene place,thanks for posting.


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## Ligeraceaster (Dec 28, 2010)

Fantastic pictures, it looks very ethereal. In my own version of answers to some of the points you made about the more recent headstones being barely legible I' imagine that those poorer headstones are probably made of limestone or something equally less hardwearing. The best headstones are things like marble and slate which tend to stay crisper for a lot longer. Also, and especially on even more modern headstones, the lettering can fade quite quickly unless it's leaded, which again is a lot more expensive. As with the hand painted planks, it's all a question of finances, if I remember rightly when my family wanted to add my grandfather's name to my grandmother's headstone it would have cost in excess of £300 whereas the small square stone with a flower pot cost less but even so it was in excess of £150, and after a funeral that sort of expense can be quite prohibitive, especially for older people. We still place flowers on a few relatives graves that we know of when we can. Some families are bigger though and are closer, some not, some live nearby and some may not. it's very odd and also quite sad to see the neglect, even in a more modern current cemetery like that near me. I wonder in the future if those areas in your pictures will be re-used? Lots of graves have a limited lease (99 years is quite common I think) an then get re-used and the stones are removed.

Anyway I hope that helps in some way. Keep up the good work!


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## godzilla73 (Dec 28, 2010)

The upkeep of a metropolitan cemetery like this will generally fall on the families of the people interred therein. In the absence of an enlightened local authority (in this case the dunderheads at Islington) the only maintenance is likely to be done by anyone visiting, because if there are no more interrals - which is the probable case in a small city cemetery like this - there is sadly no obligation to keep it up. It is highly likely that there are some really beautiful graves under all this overgrowth. The sealed up mausoleum is probably a really cracking piece of craftsmanship, because it is a) large enough to have an entrance and b) needed to be sealed, indicating that it could become structurally unsound. Marvellous pictures -well worth a second visit, I should imagine. A bit of reverent prodding at that undergrowth might reveal more.....
GDZ


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## Walrus75 (Dec 29, 2010)

Nice set of pictures there PV 



PrincessVenom said:


> ...There were also many graves from as early as 1900 which seemed to still be tended by people - glass vases with rotting flowers in them and so on - how many generations must have passed since their death? Yet people are still going and remembering them and tending the grave of somebody they almost certainly never met. But there were still many, many graves from mid 1900 which had been long since forgotten about...


A few years back I was able to do a bit of family background investigation in Cheltenham where, as it happens, my paternal family originated. I was delighted to discover the grave of my great, great grandmother (in Bouncers Lane cemetary) and 3 of the brothers (and their wives) of my great, great grandfather (in St Peters churchyard, Leckhampton). I visited Mary's grave late one evening and if I'd had flowers I'd have put some on her grave. The 3 brothers also caught me by surprise, but I paid my respects as was fitting. The point is although we were separated by 100 plus years the people in those graves had my blood; If Mary hadn't lived then I wouldn't be here typing this now (she died in 1895 BTW), they are my family, I didn't know them but I feel (and even more so because I have stood by their graves) that I have a connection with them. I have no doubt that other folk who live within close proximity of the final resting places of their ancestral family feel the same and pay their respects from time to time... I know I would if I lived closer to the deceased of my family (and considering I'm not a religious man is something I can't fully explain... mind you, elephants visit their dead relatives bones and they're not particularly religious either as far as I'm aware).

Just to clarify a few things: I have never in my life lived anywhere close to Cheltenham although I once dropped a friend off there when I was returning home from a training course in Cornwall (in 1998) - I was returning to Northern Scotland. This was prior to me discovering the Cheltenham connection, til recently I was under the belief we were Welsh! As it turned out I dropped the friend off at a house that was only about 300yards from the house that my G.G. Grandfather built and lived in!! Mary, my G.G. Grandmother, is buried in a grave that the Gloucester records office say is occupied by Amelia... who was my G.G Grandfathers 2nd wife! (the gravestone says it's Mary). These 2 women died 12 years apart. The 3 brothers are buried in the church that my G.G. Grandfather, almost without a doubt, had a hand in extending in the 1860s (he was a stonemason and lived only 1/2 a mile away... with Mary) There is more, lots more, to this story but I think I've bored you enough... sorry to hi-jack the thread BTW.


Nothing to see here, move along please...


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## gingrove (Dec 29, 2010)

Fantastic set of pictures thanks for posting!


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## nelly (Dec 29, 2010)

Fantastic report.

I must start visiting some graveyards. I really want to see Highgate, its meant to be spectacular


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## PrincessVenom (Dec 29, 2010)

nelly1967 said:


> Fantastic report.
> 
> I must start visiting some graveyards. I really want to see Highgate, its meant to be spectacular



Same here, it's been on my doorstep for the past 3 years and I've never even visited it! Thanks for all the comments and info guys, really interesting  makes you wonder just how much some of those crypts, statues and headstones actually cost! Some of them are truely remarkable works of art!


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## Mad Larkin (Dec 30, 2010)

some great pics there, i like graveyards - i used to be a gravedigger!


im not suprised you've got a great big 8 stone doberman if you weigh less than 7 stone yourself.
you saying that reminded me of something i saw quite a few years ago. during some high winds we were experiencing we saw a mother had roped herself to all her young kids so they wernt blown away!
it was sensible i suppose but quite funny to see on your way into town


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## nij4829 (Feb 16, 2011)

Having recently got into cemetery photography (granted mine are mostly night shots) I really like this place.

The pictures are amazing, thank you for sharing


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## CaroleInDFW (Apr 19, 2011)

*Hello there....*

I had to thank you so MUCH for taking these pictures. I live over in the Dallas area of Texas and have been doing some genealogy lately tracing my English roots back to England. I just discovered that I have some relatives buried in St. Pancras as well as some relatives buried in Abney. I was able to get the location and grave location for these relatives and would love to visit to take pictures of the headstones. ONLY wish I was as close as you so I could venture out to take some photos of my family in those two cemeteries. It did sadden me to see the neglect of these wonderful old cemeteries. Yes it did. And I wonder how my relative's graves are looking...


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## Snapshot (Apr 29, 2011)

What lovely, atmospheric photos.

You have really captured the ethereal feel of the place - you can almost hear the Headless Horseman coming!

I'm still wondering about the cars though...


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## Snips86x (May 9, 2011)

I love the initial image. Reminds me of a scene from Dead Snow


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