What have Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, and an old Ash tree got in common?
The answer is St Pancras Old Churchyard in London.
The answer is St Pancras Old Churchyard in London.
This wonderful and rather odd Ash tree is known as The Hardy Tree, it grows in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church in London, and as you can see hundreds of old gravestones encircle it. The coffins were taken from the grave and reinterred elsewhere and the headstones were placed in this circular pattern, over the years the tree has grown and parts of the stones have disappeared into the trunk itself.
Its history is interesting, in the mid-eighteen hundreds the Midland Railway line was being built over part of the original St. Pancras Churchyard and architect Arthur Blomfield was commissioned by the Bishop of London to supervise the proper exhumation of human remains and dismantling of tombs, unable to fulfil this task he passed it to one Thomas Hardy who was studying under Blomfield between 1862 and 1867. It was left to Hardy to oversee the removal of the bodies.
This churchyard must have been the inspiration for his 1882 poem The Levelled Churchyard.
This churchyard must have been the inspiration for his 1882 poem The Levelled Churchyard.
"O passenger, pray list and catch
Our sighs and piteous groans,
Half stifled in this jumbled patch
Of wrenched memorial stones!
"We late-lamented, resting here,
Are mixed to human jam,
And each to each exclaims in fear,
'I know not which I am!'
"The wicked people have annexed
The verses on the good;
A roaring drunkard sports the text
Teetotal Tommy should!
"Where we are huddled none can trace,
And if our names remain,
They pave some path or p-ing place
Where we have never lain!
"There's not a modest maiden elf
But dreads the final Trumpet,
Lest half of her should rise herself,
And half some local strumpet!
"From restorations of Thy fane,
From smoothings of Thy sward,
From zealous Churchmen's pick and plane
Deliver us O Lord! Amen!"
"O passenger, pray list and catch
Our sighs and piteous groans,
Half stifled in this jumbled patch
Of wrenched memorial stones!
"We late-lamented, resting here,
Are mixed to human jam,
And each to each exclaims in fear,
'I know not which I am!'
"The wicked people have annexed
The verses on the good;
A roaring drunkard sports the text
Teetotal Tommy should!
"Where we are huddled none can trace,
And if our names remain,
They pave some path or p-ing place
Where we have never lain!
"There's not a modest maiden elf
But dreads the final Trumpet,
Lest half of her should rise herself,
And half some local strumpet!
"From restorations of Thy fane,
From smoothings of Thy sward,
From zealous Churchmen's pick and plane
Deliver us O Lord! Amen!"
Hardy was known not to like London and by the end of 1867 his health had deteriorated, and this prompted his move back to his home county of Dorset. The churchyard was reopened in June 1877 as St Pancras Gardens. This followed a campaign to allow the conversion of disused burial grounds into public gardens.
Hardy's reference to this churchyard was not the first by a notable author, in 1859 Charles Dickens used it in his 1859 book The Tale of Two Cities, where one of his characters was buried and another was known to have dabbled in body snatching.
NB Since writing this post it has come to my attention that The Hardy Tree has fallen due to bad storms in the December of 2020 - this is such sad news. You can read about it here:
Hardy's reference to this churchyard was not the first by a notable author, in 1859 Charles Dickens used it in his 1859 book The Tale of Two Cities, where one of his characters was buried and another was known to have dabbled in body snatching.
NB Since writing this post it has come to my attention that The Hardy Tree has fallen due to bad storms in the December of 2020 - this is such sad news. You can read about it here:
Image Credit: Simon Lamrock
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