In the Company of Angels

East Dulwich Photographer, Sara Lloyd, explores the angelic charm of Nunhead Cemetery

As Halloween approaches, perhaps one of the most pertinent things about Nunhead Cemetery lies in how the area derives its ghoulish name. Nunhead is named after a macabre event that took place in the Reformation of the 1500’s. The mother superior of the local convent put up such fierce resistance to Henry VIII’s atrocities that she was murdered and her head was put on a spike on the green by the pub that still bares her name, The Old Nun’s Head.

Despite this rather ghoulish introduction, I went to Nunhead Cemetery in search of something altogether gentler, notably angels. Take a leisurely stroll around this 52 acre site steeped in Victorian Gothic gloom and soon you will find angels literally falling at your feet. Some angels appear directly and loftily above you whilst walking on the footpaths, others demand that you be a little more adventurous and explore the dense woodland where they seem to loom out of nowhere and take you by surprise. Rather alarmingly, a sign indicates that you should keep to the footpaths, as some memorials are unstable. My black sense of humour wonders if it would be a fitting tribute to meet one’s end in a cemetery surrounded by angels.

The main paths in the cemetery are well maintained and at certain points you are granted a vista of London that includes St Paul’s cathedral. However, I was drawn to the trails that snake mysteriously through woodland, where wildlife makes the most noise and tombstones are the only companions.

Walking here you are suddenly confronted by angels entwined in ivy, some green with age and others looking eerily human. That some of the angels are cloaked in ivy is rather appropriate since this plant was used as a symbol of everlasting memories in Victorian memorial headstones.

Above all, Nunhead Cemetery offers a peaceful haven that provides more than a resting place for the deceased and for mourners to gather. Whilst I was there I saw blackberry pickers, dog walkers and maintenance staff whose work is scheduled to cause minimum disruption to the wildlife. Ironically, in this sense the cemetery is very much a place for the living. The fact the cemetery is overgrown and rambling adds to its charm and belies its location so close to the city. With so many beautiful angels present, it is easy to forget that they are there to commemorate real lives. One tombstone dating from1891 bares the name of a lady whose middle name was Angel, a dearly beloved wife of Ebenezer. How appropriate it is then that one angel is providing a lasting tribute to an Angel from another era.

On leaving the cemetery, you are left with the distinct impression that the angels are the custodians and we are merely passers by. These green goddesses have a wistful look in their eyes that act as a reminder of our temporal existence and the fact that they will be here long after we have departed.

To see additional images taken in this series please go to saralloyd.co.uk