Death has a touch of class: society and space in Brookwood Cemetery, 1853-1903

Herman, A. (2010) Death has a touch of class: society and space in Brookwood Cemetery, 1853-1903. Journal of Historical Geography, 36 (3). pp. 305-314. ISSN 0305-7488 doi: 10.1016/j.jhg.2009.11.001

Abstract/Summary

Changes in the cultures and spaces of death during the Victorian era reveal the shifting conceptualisations and mobilisations of class in this period. Using the example of Brookwood Necropolis, established 1852 in response to the contemporary burial reform debate, the paper explores tensions within the sanitary reform movement, 1853–1903. Whilst reformist ideology grounded the cemetery's practices in a discourse of inclusion, one of the consequences of reform was to reinforce class distinctions. Combined with commercial imperatives and the modern impulse towards separation of living and dead, this aspect of reform enacted a counter-discourse of alienation. The presence of these conflicting strands in the spaces and practices of the Necropolis and their changes during the time period reflect wider urban trends.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/34214
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.jhg.2009.11.001
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Human Environments Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science
Uncontrolled Keywords	Brookwood Cemetery; Death; Class; Victorian; burial reform
Publisher	Elsevier
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