History of Reading Society

THE subject of the January talk was the “Influence of Victorian mourning at Reading Cemetery”.

The speaker was Anna Ellis who has completed a degree in archaeology at the University of Reading as a mature student.

On May 6, 1843, the Berkshire Chronicle reported the first interment at the new Reading Cemetery.

The burial was of Elizabeth Jacobs, the daughter of Mr T Jacobs, of Eldon Terrace, Reading, and the mourners were led by Rev William Legg, of Broad Street Chapel. A considerable number of spectators had gathered to witness the event.

The Reading Cemetery Company was established by an Act of Parliament in 1842 to build and maintain a cemetery on the outskirts of the town; it would be funded by the sale of company shares and burial plots.

It was based on the seven “garden cemeteries” that were established on the outskirts of London and whose layouts were influenced by the writings of the landscape gardener and botanist John Claudius Loudon.

The purpose of these “out-of-town” cemeteries was to move the dead from the immediate proximity of the living in response to a growing national campaign against the universal custom of burying the dead in churchyards.

Reading’s growing population and the increasing mortality rate, particularly from the most feared of Victorian killers, cholera, meant that the overcrowded burial grounds of the town’s parish churches were now a hazard to public health.

The site of the new cemetery at Hatton’s Platt in Earley was purchased from a Mr Cholmeley.

It is flanked by the London and Wokingham Roads and is surrounded by a high perimeter wall, built to prevent grave robbing.

The site is bisected by a central avenue approached through the neo-classical gatehouse. The interred are segregated: the non-Conformists are buried opposite the gatehouse and the Conformists (Church of England) nearer to Palmer Park. Originally there were two chapels.

The trees and shrubs were supplied by Suttons Seeds, of Reading.

In 1861, after the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria influenced a vogue, following a bereavement, for more flamboyant, ritualized forms of public behaviour at funerals and a more outward mourning etiquette.

The bereaved were often led into spending more than was either necessary or desirable for a funeral to avoid the ignominy of a “pauper’s funeral”. Many families on low incomes would save money each week to pay for it.

A typical funeral comprised the wake and a social gathering in the home of the deceased followed by a remembrance service at a church.

The deceased would then be conveyed to the cemetery by a horse-drawn cortège, the coffin bedecked in wreaths and the horses’ heads adorned with plumes.

A clergyman would preside at a short ceremony at the graveside before the burial. The burial plot could be marked by a simple metal or wooden cross.

The more expensive headstones with an inscription made of stone, marble or granite were popular.

The wealthy would erect ornate monuments: statues on plinths, obelisks and broken columns were some of the designs available.

Immediately, a period of mourning would commence and this could last between a year and two years.

The most restrictive etiquette applied to widows: the convention required them, at all times, to be attired entirely in black garments which were made of crepe, a dull silk.

A veil was to be worn to cover the face and any jewellery was made of jet.

Widowers would usually wear a black arm band.

Today, there are 70,000 burials and 12,000 monuments at the cemetery.

In 2002 it was Grade II listed by English Heritage.

Two monuments are Grade II listed: one is to Bernard Laurence Hieatt, a world-record holding motorcycle rider and pilot, and the other — a pair of cast-iron urns — dedicated to the Barratt and Andrews families, once owners of a local iron foundry.

The subject of the next talk will be the “History of Reading allotments” and the speaker will be Evelyn Williams.

This will take place at Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, Reading, on Wednesday, February 20 at 7.30pm. All are welcome, £2 entry for non-members.