UNDERGROUND ARTISTS
A Guided Tour of Brompton Cemetery Exploring its Creative and Cultural Residents with Robert Stephenson on
Sunday 20th October 2024 at 2:30 pm
Brompton Cemetery opened in 1840 and is one of the famed Magnificent Seven Cemeteries of London. At its centre lies an outstanding Grade II* listed architectural complex centred on the Great Circle which is surrounded by extensive ranges of colonnades above catacombs and overlooked by the domed Anglican Chapel: a configuration said to have been inspired by the layout of St Peter’s in Rome.
Within the cemetery’s 40 acres are to be found a great cross-section of Victorian worthies. On this tour you will see the graves of art patrons, gallery founders, art critics, art collectors, artists’ models, painters and sculptors. Notable Victorian painters interred here include Godfrey Sykes and Richard Redgrave, as well as pre-Raphaelites Val Princep and Frederick Sandys. It is also the final resting place of other artistic individuals, including Fanny Brawne, John Keats’ muse and lover, and Constant Lambert founder of the Royal Ballet.
Join Robert Stephenson to hear about the very human interactions between various of these volatile individuals. Learn the story of Effie Gray’s escape from her unconsummated marriage to John Ruskin and much else besides. You will also be able to view the grandiose Grade II* listed funerary monument designed by Sir Edward Burne Jones and visit the catacombs.
Tickets £12 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Brompton Cemetery. Please click here to buy.
Robert Stephenson is a qualified City of London Culture and Heritage guide and a trustee at Kensal Green and Brompton cemeteries. He teaches on London and death studies. Robert is also chairman of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends. |