18 July 2011

West Hill Cemetry

In the 1830's Winchester did not have a cemetery and the graveyards of the City's churches were overcrowded and so a Portsmouth grocer called Mr Benny saw a business opportunity and created a cemetery here! The cemetery is now closed to new business..

9 comments:

  1. It's a nice place. Mr. Benny did a good thing.

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  2. Clever man creating a solution to a definite need.

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  3. I find it interesting to wander around old cemeteries.

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  4. Must stop by again and see if there is anyone interesting buried there..

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  5. It looks a bit closed. Always interesting to visit places like this.

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  6. At least they still keep it tidy.

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  7. It's pretty well looked after

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  8. It is amazing just how many burials can be found in a small churchyard and by the early Victorian period they were nearly all overflowing. The Victorian cemeteries were another way to make money out of a serious problem, we have several large ones here in Leeds. Guinea Graves are an interesting and rather sad solution to the cost of burial for a poorer family.

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  9. Had a look at your Guinea Grave post Paul, really fascinating! I guess nowdays most people are cremated so don't need to worry about whether there will be space for them...

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