St James' Cemetery

Finally got one of my goals completed on last Wednesday! I found St James' Cemetery in Liverpool and was able to tour the cathedral and the cemetery. It seems strange in its location because it was just sort of in my face the whole time, I just didn't walk up the road far enough. It was worth it and waiting for it made me respect it more. The cathedral was wonderfully, so huge and with so many corners to explore. The peacefulness of the place in the middle of a city was also interesting. When you walked in, you sort of forgot where the cathedral was placed because you couldn't hear anything of the outside world once you were inside. I don't think I can describe it any other way then saying it was spiritually up lifting. Maybe I would say I felt closer to God as I walked around and saw the alters and candles, but I think maybe it was more of a case that I was so relexed.

Of couse the cemetery held more intersted to me and it didn't fail. The cemetery is sunk below the natural ground level of the city, so you get to walk in a small valley whilst the city carries on life above you. They have rearranged the gravestones so now they line the walls of the cemtery, but 99% are still readable and in good condition. Also there are some very interesting gravestones- due to famous Liverpool people being buried there, but what touched me most was the hopstial and ophan headstones, which listed lots of young people and childen, who must have been all buried in that plot on top of each other. I'd neverf really seen anything like that before, but I've learnt enough history of Liverpool to understand the harshness of life in the 1800s' so I moved on to another intersting feature in the cemtery.

There is Liverpool's first and suriving freash water spring, right in the heart of the cemtery and also family crypts placed into the oppsite wall and split into two different levels. It is hard to see who these belong too because most of the gravestones are missing or have faded with time. The cemetery is a relfective place and there lots of people just chilling on the grass and whilst I was buy taking photographs, I left my friend reading Shakespare on a large rock in front of some of the headstones that had not been removed.

I try to explain my interest in graveyards and cemteries everytime to people or whilst I write. It's differcult for me to explain, because I know peoples' feeling about suit places, but to me its a place to get closer to nature and think about the past. It's nice to remember people who are no longer with us and think about your own life.