Written by Lauren
Rating: 5
VERIFIED
As a London Month of the Dead regular, I was chuffed to have an event around Christmas. The performance was fantastic and the atmosphere was perfect!
ROYAL RITUALS OF DEATH - The Curious Traditions of Royal Funerals through the Ages
- No reviews.
- Dissenters Chapel
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Something A Little Different, Theatre/Arts and Walks & Tours
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Tickets from £12.00
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n/a
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Sat, 8th Oct 2022 @ 15:30 - 17:00
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15:30 - 17:00
The funeral of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II on 19th September both broke and adhered to a legacy of royal rituals of death. But what are these traditions and how did they evolve? In this talk, historian Robert Stephenson will offer a comprehensive review of royal funerary practice down the centuries.
Funeral obsequies of a superior kind have always been granted to kings and queens in order to demonstrate that royal power is not diminished by the death of a single monarch. The late sovereign has to be honoured, while facilitating a seamless transfer to the new incumbent. The great panoply of the royal funeral has grown from this necessity.
The mortal remains of monarchs could not be seen to undergo decomposition, so as far back as the medieval period the bodies of kings and queens were embalmed. The corpse was eviscerated and the body cavity filled with sweet smelling herbs, sewn up and then entirely covered in cere cloth, a waxed linen applied hot. The urns containing the viscera could be buried separately. The hearts, especially of queens, were often interred in separate locations dear to the departed. When Eleanor of Castile, the queen of Edward I, died at Harby in Nottinghamshire in 1290 her viscera were interred at Lincoln Cathedral, her heart in Blackfriars Monastery London and her body in Westminster Abbey. James II is an extreme example of this division, technically known as partition, and after his death in exile in Paris in 1688 different parts of his body were deposited in six locations.
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson is a qualified City of London Culture and Heritage guide and a trustee at Kensal Green and Brompton cemeteries. He teaches on London and death studies. Robert is also chairman of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends.
Address
Dissenters Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, 391 Ladbroke Grove, London, W10 5AB
Nearest Station
Ladbroke Grove (Tube)
Getting there
A Curious Invitation and Antique Beat
This year Antique Beat and A Curious Invitation will be hosting The London Month of the Dead, a series of 36 different events investigating the capital’s relationship with its deceased residents. Events will include a private view of the Museum of London’s bone archive, taxidermy workshops, macabre walking tours and private views and a programme of weekend death salons with talks on subjects ranging from public dissection and body snatching to reincarnation and funereal folklore. Each salon will feature a pair of speakers, authorities in fields such as osteology, forensic pathology and the paranormal, who will offer their own perspectives and insights on mortality in the city.
Each year the London Month of the Dead donates 20% of all ticket revenue to one of London's magnificent seven cemeteries. In 2017 all of the death salons and concerts will be hosted at the Dissenters and Anglican chapels at Kensal Green. In previous years the month's programme has centered around Brompton Cemetery but the chapel is now undergoing important restoration work, a project the London Month of the Dead is proud to have supported.
The London Month of the Dead has been curated by a Curious Invitation and Antique Beat to inform, entertain and provoke on the subject of death and London cemeteries.
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| Ticket | Event time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
|
Royal Rituals of Death
Finding the Dead of Medieval Battles |
15:30 - 17:00 | £12.00 |
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• Visited 4 months ago -
Written by Cherry
Rating: 4
• Visited 4 months agoVERIFIED
We were a little disappointed that we were unable to hear Casting the Runes. The other stories were fun though, especially the Judge’s House. How could it go wrong with Bram Stocker in charge!
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