A fine and private place

[blamebrampton]

St Stephen's Church in Newtown has a beautiful cemetery attached to it. It was once much larger, but the council decided to build a park, and so they resumed much of the land, leaving the bodies buried beneath it and moving the best stones inside the new church wall to line it on the side thet remained cemetery (all the 'best' graves were nearest the church, they remain intact).

The park still has bodies buried beneath it, but most people do not know and it is a popular picnic and playing spot. I went to a wedding at the church on the weekend, then back to the cememtery and park today, because there were a few photos I wanted to take. Firstly, for the wonderfuljadzialove : 

This is on the wall outside the cemetery and church, on the park side, which is covered in graffiti. What the legend underneath means, I have no idea, though I would definitely shag Snape over Rove. The latter is sweet and funny, but too nice. Here is a broader shot of the wall: 

As you can see, it is rather chaotic on the outside. On the inside, it encloses a refuge that seems a world away from the cacophony of Newtown, with nineteenth century graves telling the stories of people who lived locally generations ago. It is a quiet place, despite the busy streets running past it, where people smile gently at each other in passing and swathes of periwinkle and grasses clothe the dead.

Many famous early Sydneysiders are buried there, and it is where you will find Eliza Donnithorne's grave. It is widely believed she was the model for Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Dickens lived in Sydney for a while, and she was the famous daughter of a very fine house on King Street in Newtown. On the day of her wedding, with the wedding meal set and her finery on, she received her guests and waited for her groom. He never arrived.

Though she changed her clothes, the wedding breakfast was left on the table for over thirty years until she died. She herself rarely left the house. Eventually, she died, and is buried with her father. 

Walking back, I saw a great Dane cheerfully trying to make friends with another dog. It was a sausage dog. The sausage's owners caught the great Dane and after some soprano and bass barks were exchanged, a friendship of sorts began.
All in all, a most successful day off!

Comments

[tomatoe18.livejournal.com]

Fascinating!

The dogs? &hearts

What the legend underneath means, I have no idea, though I would definitely shag Snape over Rove.

....................

:D

[angela-snape.livejournal.com]

I would definitely shag Snape over Rove

Me too!

Looks like an interesting place to visit.

[i-autumnheart.livejournal.com]

Wow - I never knew that about St. Stephens park, nor had ever heard of poor Miss Eliza: what a wacky thing to learn at the end of the day!

[raitala.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I always forget that Australia must have some old parts. There are dead people underground all over London. I imagine it would be a bit more of a novelty in Sidney.

I love the idea of those two people bonding over their giant dog and their tiny dog becoming friends ♥♥♥

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Doggies! :D Aw, they're great. But I can't help but picture their half'n'half offspring now. :D

Are there any good epitaphs?

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

What a gorgeous cemetery! I'm a sucker for old graveyards. The Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA is one of my favorites.

[potteresque_ire]

It looks like a beautiful park ... cemetry and dead people makes me scared though *hangs on to Brammers tight*

[lotus-lizzy.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Snape would find it pure insanity that his face would be mixed in with grafitti, although I have to admit the pic looks sexy.

And I love old graveyards. There are quite a few in NJ that date back to the 1600-1700s and when I was little I used to sneak down and visit them with my friends. I took pics and usually got some sort of white flecks which some people beleive are signs of ghosts.

[tsosh.livejournal.com]

The park still has bodies buried beneath it, but most people do not know
O_o A cemetery that turned to a picnic area WITH THE BODIES STILL THERE. So weird...

Love the dogs' story!

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

that park is a horror movie just waiting to happen [*nods*] though on a more serious side. ewwwww. in welly when they decided to build a freeway through the old cemetery, they just mowed up everyone in the path and made a group grave over to the side and put them all in it. thought that was bit of a strange way to go about it, too.

thanks for the pics and the stories, v. v. fascinating. ♥

[marcelmoonstone.livejournal.com]

Fascinating! Great Expectations was the first 'grown-up' book I read. I was only eight and, I'm quite sure, didn't understand a lot of it but it opened up a whole new world for me.

Growing up in an apartment, the cemetery down the street was my playground. I've always felt at peace visiting them.

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

Awww, George just wanna be friends ...

friendsssssssssssssssssss

Woof!

[faynia.livejournal.com]

My sausage dog is much cuter. >.> *G*

I want a cemetery near my house like that. They're so old and pretty and not at all spooky, and if it wasn't always wet here, and I were more courageous, I'd chose it as a place to write.


But my puppy is still cuter.

[ms-kilian.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the lovely photos and story. I love that park. We have often picniced there prior to catching a film at the Dendy. It's so lovely to have an expanse of green so close to the hubub.

[jadzialove.livejournal.com]

That is highly excellent graffiti! Around here, the graffiti is generally lazy squiggles that may or may not be markings for gangs. Wouldn't it be awesome if your graffiti was drawn by a Snape gang? Instead of hand signals and kerchiefs, they wear long black robes and cocked eyebrows, and have Alan Rickman look-alike contests...

It is a quiet place, despite the busy streets running past it, where people smile gently at each other in passing and swathes of periwinkle and grasses clothe the dead.

You have such a lovely way with words.

You really should do something with that... *giggles*

Seriously, I think I would love that quiet place and would definitely be fascinated by the stones.

[lilian-cho.livejournal.com]

Miss Havisham was too wacky to not be real =D

[aldehyde.livejournal.com]

gorgeous pics! love the snape mural especially :)

[shadowclub.livejournal.com]

Oh my! I wonder if they have like a Snape stencil somewhere out there. Actually, I wonder how Snape would feel about being on that wall... probably pissed off that his face isn't bigger:)

[arcanetrivia]

Whoa, weird! I guess they had one stencil for the black and another for the white? Or did it look more hand-painted?