The Non-Catholic Cemetery, Rome.

Visiting graveyards/cemeteries is an undeniable staple of a Dark Tourist's diet. I like to visit cemeteries because they are tranquil and offer peace from often busy schedules. The beautifully stylised monuments and headstones are particularly pleasing to read. The Historian inside of me enjoys pondering the lives of those interred within the earthy vaults below the moss and fauna. 

It is no surprise then, that when my Husband and I decided to go to Rome for our Honeymoon, we would pay a visit to the 300 year old Non-Catholic Cemetery. 

The Cemetery is most notable for containing the ashes of the English Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) and his contemporary, the English Poet John Keats (1795-1821). Burials began during the 18th Century and were mainly for European Upper-Class young men whom had embarked upon the 'Grand Tour' of Europe and found themselves at the mercy of the Grim Reaper. 

Graves and monuments sprung up next to the 'Piramide' of Gaius Cestius, a colossal pyramid tomb for the Roman Magistrate and sometime Priest, Gaius Cestius. In 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley described the area as, '... a green slope near the walls, under the pyramid tomb of Cestius and, as I think, the most beautiful and solemn cemetery I have ever beheld.'

Visiting the Non-Catholic Cemetery was the highlight of my trip. I can't quite decide which area of it was my favourite - every inch of it fulfilled the Romantic ideal of eternal sleep in a flower-adorned meadow underneath the beautiful Italian sun. As well as the graves of Shelley and Keats, there is one other grave that deserves a mention.

William Wetmore Story's Angel of Grief (1894) is the most spectacular monument in a cemetery/graveyard I have ever seen. A monument for his wife, Emelyn, the Angel of Grief is a testament to bereavement.  The angel is slumped over the gravestone, her hands covering her face in a painfully emotive posture. Story's creation is one of the most visited graves in the cemetery and it is world famous (having appeared upon many 'Goth' bands album covers, most notable the Evanescence  EP from 1998). Shoutout to the film American Beauty - THIS is the most beautiful thing in the world!

Myself and Percy Bysshe Shelley's grave containing his ashes but not his heart. Contemporary reports suggest that his heart did not burn upon his cremation so his wife, Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) kept his heart wrapped in his poetry in her desk. It is buried with the Shelley's son at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth. 

Arguably one of the prettiest graves is that of poet John Keats. In accordance with Keats' wishes, the headstone is not marked with his name, but that of a 'Young English Poet'. The painter and Keats' close friend, Joseph Severn is buried next to him. Severn nursed Keats through his final moments of Tuberculosis. 

My Dark Travels Rating - 10/10

It is very hard to describe the beauty of this cemetery. When wondering around, I was in awe of what lay before me. The landscaping is pleasant, tranquil and it is very well taken care of. The headstones, the memorials and the sculptures here are a stunning and sobering reminder of our own mortality. The cemetery even has resident cats! Graves, Poets, Cats & Sunshine - what more could you possibly want in life?!
The cemetery is FREE to visit, but a donation of 3€ is customary (unless you are as overwhelmed as I was and then you can put as much as you want in! I think I put in a 20€ donation as well as buying one of their many books in the well-stocked information centre! It was too fabulous!) You can also become a Friend of the Cemetery HERE.

DT x

Moreton Corbet Castle, Shropshire.

Not many people have heard of the county of Shropshire. Not many people know where it is. I know where it is because it is my home county, and what a fantastic county it is. Most Salopians would argue against this because there is hardly anything to do here. However, Shropshire is a county flooded with ruined buildings, country estates and crumbling castles. And from a Dark Traveller perspective, there are many opportunities to visit some locations steeped in grim history.

In June of 2015, I visited Moreton Corbet Castle. It is located a few miles from the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury and is in the middle of the countryside. You can actually see the ruins of the old Elizabethan part of the manor house from the road, crumbling away in the distance. Very exciting.

The property is looked after by English Heritage but is free to visit. There is a small car park which is also free. Walking up to the ruins is eerie, especially when you are the only visitor or visiting party. Moreton Corbet Castle is old, very old, as settlements on the land were established as early as 1086. Evidence of a rich and terrible history is clear. 

Moreton Corbet Castle witnessed both the Plague and the English Civil War (1642-1651). The owner, Robert Corbet, whose chosen architectural style dominates the building, died of the Bubonic Plague at the property in 1583. Parliamentary forces stormed the castle in the 1640s, damaging it (and a few Royalist soldiers) in the process. 

Although damaged, the Manor House was restored and inhabited up until the early 18th century. The Corbet family still own the property but live elsewhere, leaving the house to slowly fall to nature. Ancestors of the Corbets are buried next to Moreton Corbet in the Church, St Bartholomew's and it's Churchyard. 

The Church of St Bartholomew is glorious and colourful. There are a variety of effigies, tombs and dedications to the dead, including a list of those who died in the Great Wars, handwritten and displayed proudly next to the pulpit. There is a children's section with a mini library and toys watched over by skulls carved into the stone fire place. 

My Dark Travels Rating - 9/10

I have given Moreton Corbet Castle this rating because it is one of my favourite places to visit. Not only is it free, it has everything that I look for in a location - creepy old ruins, steeped in history, next to a quaint village church with tombs, graves and skulls. Oh, and it is in the middle of the countryside which makes it isolated, bleak and extra creepy. It would be 10/10 if English Heritage had provided an audio tour (EH do great audio tours!). I would definitely recommend MCC to anyone interested in Dark Tourism. 

What is 'Dark Tourism'

It is no secret that people are interested in strange things. Some people are interested in baking, some people like to dance and some people enjoy nothing more than a fine cheese. I am neither inserted in baking, dancing nor cheese. I am interested in Dark Tourism. 

Dark Tourism is the act of visiting a location that is associated with tragedy, misery and death. If you think about it, Dark Tourism is not a modern nor alien concept. For centuries, people have been attending to the graves of their loved ones, preserving memories. When I was 14, I went on a GCSE History trip to Ypres, touring the WW1 battlefields and visiting the location of the Somme. It was a peculiar feeling to know that the trees in the distance bore witness to the deaths of as many as 1,000,000 men in one of the bloodiest battles in history. Strangely enough, I also felt calm. Calm because I knew I was remembering and honouring the wasted lives of these men who died in tragic circumstances. 

My GCSE History group and I are not alone in visiting areas associated with death and tragedy. Every November, the Queen and major political figures lay wreathes of poppies in front of the Cenotaph in London. In New York, the 9/11 Memorial Museum remembers those who lost their lives in the infamous attacks on the World Trade Centre towers. Furthermore, tourists regularly flock to Pompeii to observe the unfortunate fate of those buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. 

Memorialising death and disaster is a concrete ideology, whether society choses to accept it or not. 

DT

Tyburn Tree, London.

Tyburn - A name synonymous with death. Sounds a bit like a rather shit Hammer film (not starring Christopher Lee). Tyburn's link to death is because it was used as a site for executions in London.

The first recorded execution in 1196 was of a William Fitz Osbert, who was arrested for riling up the poor. He was dragged naked, behind a horse, to Tyburn where he was hanged. Henry VIII, the notoriously blood thirsty ginger King of England, ordered the hanging of the Pilgrimage of Grace leaders to be at Tyburn. However, there were no formal set of gallows until 1571 and these gallows were named the Tyburn Tree.

Hogarth's 'The IDLE PRENTICE Executed at Tyburn' (1747)

These executions were public. Many men, women and children, those rich and those poor gathered to watch prisoners take their last breaths. This was a favoured past-time as there was little to entertain the mostly illiterate masses of pre-Victorian Britain. People would line the streets of London to watch the procession of the condemned travel from Newgate Prison to the Tyburn Tree. Prisoners were permitted to climb from their carted wagon to take one last drink before death - hence the expression, off the wagon. 

The Tyburn tree took its final victim, Highwayman John Austin, in 1783. The gallows moved outside Newgate prison where they stood until 1868 when executions took place inside the prison. 

You can visit what is believed to be the original site of the Tyburn Tree gallows. A neat stone circle bearing the words 'THE SITE OF TYBURN TREE' marks the area of centuries of executions. It is located just opposite Marble Arch (watch out for the pigeons...) in the middle of a traffic crossing. It is free to visit but do be aware of passers by wondering why you are staring at the floor.

My Dark Travels Rating - 6/10. 

Tyburn Tree is a great attraction as it is free. The history that surrounds the spot is rather macabre and very interesting to read about, especially if you like the history of crime. However, it is just a stone memorial and will take about 20 seconds to visit!