Bath Abbey Cemetery

In which I contemplate the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi in England's greatest Georgian city.

{Bath, England}

It feels like so many cemeteries that I visit have the same backstory: In the early 19th century, the cemeteries in town were filling up, and so a new cemetery was built on the outskirts of town - for health reasons, and to expand burial space.

Bath Abbey Cemetery is no different. Burials had taken place at Bath Abbey for centuries - prominent citizens and parishioners were buried beneath the floor of the Abbey, and underneath the stones of the courtyard, as well. (So many people, in fact, that the floor of Bath Abbey has recently undergone an extensive restoration and repair after the floor was left unstable due to the gaps left by decomposing bodies.)

But by the early 1800s, the cemeteries of Bath were getting full, and so a new cemetery was planned on the hill just outside of town, just below the beautiful National Trust property Prior Park. If you are making the long, slow climb from the center of Bath to the Prior Park entrance, it is a perfect place to stop and break your walk. Which is exactly what I did one late summer afternoon.