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The ICCM Journal | Winter 2021 | V89 No. 4
the grave as a garden Examining a unique type of cemetery memorial Introduction Styles and symbols are inextricably associated with periods of history. Whilst this is undoubtedly apparent in respect of architecture, it equally applies to memorials. The broken column, draped urn, upturned torch and clasped hands can be found on many eighteenth and nineteenth-century monuments. The uniform dimensions, lettering and stone of the Commonwealth War Grave and then the adoption of the lawn graves signify burial during the twentieth, whilst the contemporary period has seen more laissez-faire approach to commemoration in terms of elaborate memorials in a variety of materials, secular symbolism, lengthy inscriptions and occasionally adjoining benches. During the interwar years (1919-1939) masons offered two styles of memorial that represented the spirit of the age. The first was a range of designs that embraced Art Deco, while the second was the ‘garden memorial’ where the grave space portrayed the suburban front garden. Drawing from memorial catalogues and other literature, this article examines the style and rationale behind the ‘garden memorial’. The Grave as a Garden The ‘garden memorial’ comprises kerbing using rectangular granite or stone blocks, with the centre of the grave infilled with ‘crazy paving’. Sometimes these would be laid to resemble a winding path. A feature would invariably be a bird bath, a circular flower bowl on a pedestal or vases; gaps sometimes remained in the kerbing for planting shrubs. Some designs would be marked out by small boulders, not dissimilar to those used on an ornamental rockery. A stone block set into the foot of the kerb, a low wall at the head end of the grave or on a rock boulder would contain a short inscription.
Five examples of an interwar ‘garden memorial’ in London cemeteries.
