The Washington herald., 1907-12-26
FAMOUS GARDEN SEPULCHERS
Many Precedents for Burial of Lord
Nunburnholme.
Practice Became Rage Among Eng
lish Upper Glasses, After RestOra-
tiOn, aS Sanitary Protest.

London. Dec. 26-The interment Of the
remains Of the late Lord Nunburnholme
IN the middle OF the lawn Of his Italian
garden has not had a parallel since the
body OF Charles Waterton Q7S2-1Ss5), the
celebrated naturalist. was laid to rest
in garden grave Of his own choosing.
namely the cultivated spot between TWO
oak trees lying on the bank of the lake
in Walton Park, Yorkshire. Mr.. Water
ton had inciosed his domain with a high
wall and In order 70 preserve his magnifi-
cent wild archaeological collection, COM
prising thousands OF widgeons. teals.
pochards. coOts. and Canadian geese,
allowed no gun TO be fired within the
park.
Garden burial. In lieu Of ordinary inter
ment In churchyard or vault. once en-
joyed a considerable vogue among di-
versiaed classes of the community. IN
the garden Of LOngner Park. near
Shrewsbury, there may still be seen the
tomb OF Robert Burton, q direct ancestor
Of the present proprietors. Mr.. Burton
was a Jealous asserter Of the Gospel all
Queen Mary's days" and he is said 10
have died for JOY on hearing the Shrews-
bury bells ring out the accession OF Good
Queen Bess. But the old order could
not be disIodged IN an instant. When
the funeral party presented itself AT the
family place Of burial the Roman Cath
ole priests. stn in possession. denied the
right OF burial 20 a Protestant. so the
coffin was taken back to Longner and
inferred in the garden.
Many OF the Puritaus were stanch ad-
vocates Of garden burial. inasmuch as
they grated this mode Of interment upon
the passage in the Old Testament which
states that Manasseh. King Of Judah,
slept with HIS fathers. and was buried in
the garden OF his own house. in the gar
den OF Uzza.' Robert Hutton. of Hough-
ton. Durham, an ex-captain of Ironsides.
who died in 1850. was buried in his gar
den, where a erumbling altar tomb is
said stiE to mark the spot. Again. in
1854, we read Of the widow Of another
CrOmwellian warrior named Taylor being
buried in the garden Of her house at
Brighouse standing upright" and side
by side with her husband and daughter
who had been previously inferred in like
fashion. After the Restoration the prac-
tice became quite a rage among the up
per classes and the idea especially rec
commended itself to men OF letters, wits
and d!lettanti, as a protest against the
horrible, unsanitary system Of interring
corpses a few feet below the floors Of
churches
Evelyn often refers approvingly TO this
early attempt at burial reform. and also
states that an author named Sumner was
compiling a treatise "On Garden Burial q"
The celebrated Sir William Temple de-
sired that his remains should rest In his
beautiful garden at Moore Park. but his
wishes were only partly fulfilled. for
while his heart is buried beneath a sun
dial there his body lies beside that Of his
wife in Westminster Abbey. Though
he laid not his whole body in his gar
den" writes Evelyn. ''he deposited the
better part OF il there"
a pathetic little story in connection
with garden burial at the time of the
Great Plague Is revealed by the parish
registers Of Great Hampden. Bucks. The
incumbent notes the death of his young
est daughter. returned to Us from visit
ing our relatives in London" who dies
Of the pestilence and is buried in the
rectory garden. Then follows another
date and mention Of the death Of another
child, and again Of another and another.
until five children are described as hav-
ing succumbed to the plague and been
buried in the garden. All Of these en-
tries are in the fathers handwriting. and
they are followed by another in the hand
writing of his successor recording the
death of the bereaved parent himself.
who was the last 10 take the contagion.
and Of his remains being buried, even as
the others had been. ''in the garden"