London Month of the Dead - Death's Triumph

DEATH'S TRIUMPH Charnel Tombs of Stuart England with Roger Bowdler At Highgate Cemetery Chapel On Wednesday 8th October 2025 from 7:00 pm Some of the most haunting tombs in British history were created during the mid-17th century, when a macabre fashion took hold. From the 1620s onwards, a taste emerged for bone-encrusted monuments, echoing the jumbled remains of European ossuaries. Crafted in delicate alabaster by some of London’s finest masons, these tombs went beyond commemoration. They were meditations on mortality. This period, deeply influenced by the metaphysical poets and early scientific discovery, saw an intense focus on the body and its inevitable decay. These tombs became physical reflections of a Christian’s preparation for death, at a time when the mysteries of anatomy were just beginning to be explored. In this talk, historian Roger Bowdler places these tombs within their wider cultural and religious context, exploring how they served as spiritual tools and artistic statements. Expect to hear about striking examples such as the stark monument to Lady Elizabeth Digges in Kent, the chilling cadaver tomb of Francis Newport in Shropshire, and other morbid masterpieces from churches across England. Bowdler brings these funerary artworks vividly to life, shedding light on a uniquely English response to death, one that embraced its horrors with both poetic melancholy and sculptural flourish. Tickets £12.50 including a Victorian punch. Please click here to buy. ROGER BOWDLER Roger Bowdler is a historian and heritage expert with a PhD on 17th century church monuments, formerly Director of Listing at Historic England and now a partner at planning consultancy Montagu Evans. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and active in numerous heritage bodies, he has published widely on churchyards, war memorials, and British cemeteries, and is currently writing a book on burial sites since 1820.

DEATH'S TRIUMPH
Charnel Tombs of Stuart England
with Roger Bowdler At Highgate Cemetery Chapel
On Wednesday 8th October 2025 from 7:00 pm

Some of the most haunting tombs in British history were created during the mid-17th century, when a macabre fashion took hold. From the 1620s onwards, a taste emerged for bone-encrusted monuments, echoing the jumbled remains of European ossuaries. Crafted in delicate alabaster by some of London’s finest masons, these tombs went beyond commemoration. They were meditations on mortality. This period, deeply influenced by the metaphysical poets and early scientific discovery, saw an intense focus on the body and its inevitable decay. These tombs became physical reflections of a Christian’s preparation for death, at a time when the mysteries of anatomy were just beginning to be explored.

In this talk, historian Roger Bowdler places these tombs within their wider cultural and religious context, exploring how they served as spiritual tools and artistic statements. Expect to hear about striking examples such as the stark monument to Lady Elizabeth Digges in Kent, the chilling cadaver tomb of Francis Newport in Shropshire, and other morbid masterpieces from churches across England. Bowdler brings these funerary artworks vividly to life, shedding light on a uniquely English response to death, one that embraced its horrors with both poetic melancholy and sculptural flourish.

Tickets £12.50 including a Victorian punch. Please click here to buy.

ROGER BOWDLER
Roger Bowdler is a historian and heritage expert with a PhD on 17th century church monuments, formerly Director of Listing at Historic England and now a partner at planning consultancy Montagu Evans. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and active in numerous heritage bodies, he has published widely on churchyards, war memorials, and British cemeteries, and is currently writing a book on burial sites since 1820.