Extra Mural Cemetery

Rich and poor buried here

I first really came to realise what a lovely place this is through joining the famous cemetery tour during the Brighton Festival one year. Since then I’ve gone on to find several ancestors buried there, including my great-great-grandfather (although I think he is just in Woodvale). I’d no idea they’d lived in Brighton for so long. No fine monuments on the graves of my ancestors, but I enjoy those of other people. There are so many characters here, famous and infamous; rich and poor – another place of such varied historical interest.

A haven of tranquillity

It is lovely that such an area is now managed (at least partly) for nature, rather than the sterile mowed lawns of many burial places. Yet another haven of peace and tranquillity within the city. There are lovely mature trees as well as many flowers.

Dramatic views

I particularly like the views across the cemetery – from above and below. From Racecourse Hill the extent of the cemetery site becomes clear and its dramatic position above Brighton. Years ago I looked at a house off the Lewes Road somewhere. I can’t remember much about it, except that I didn’t like it and that it was almost worth buying for its view over the cemetery.