Tucked behind the Victoria Gate Lodge in Hyde Park is a Victorian pet cemetery, one of the hidden gems of London. In order to visit this cemetery you must book at least one month in advance with the Royal Parks and pay 60 pounds for a one hour visit with up to 6 people.
The Gatekeeper of Victoria Lodge in those days, Mr Winbridge, was friendly with the J Lewis Barned family who lived near Hyde Park and often visited with their dog, Cherry. When Cherry died of old age in 1881, Mr Winbridge received permission to bury him in his backyard, a fitting place for a dog who enjoyed the park grounds throughout his life.
Back then it was common for dogs to get trampled under the feet of horses using the carriageway in the park. Many of the dogs buried in the pet cemetery met their end in this way, including Prince, the Yorkshire terrier belonging to Prince George's wife, Louisa Fairbrother. Prince was buried here with the gravestone you see below.
It seems out of character for people in this time period in London to have such sweet sentiments about their pets. My favourite quote regarding this cemetery comes from an article written by E.A. Brayley Hodgetts in 1893. It says, "It is a graceful and harmless custom to bury pet-dogs, and is very common in Germany, where people are perhaps a little more sentimental than in this matter-of-fact England of ours."
We certainly saw a lot of sweet sentiments written on the gravestones including, "Most loving and most fondly loved," "Most faithful devoted friend, who left us sorrowing," "As deeply mourned as ever dog was mourned, for friendship rare by her adorned," and my personal favourite, "He asked for so little and gave so much."
Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard the entire time of our visit (the downside to having to book one month in advance). But it was still well worth it to see this sweet, hidden cemetery.
The article by E.A. Brayley Hodgetts describes this sad story of a dog called Gelert who defended his owner's child against a wolf but was then killed by his owner who assumed the dog had killed the child himself. He soon realised his mistake when he found the wolf's dead body and his unharmed child under the cot. I'm glad that Gelert at least received a peaceful resting place after such a terrible end to life.
Some of the pet names are ones you may still hear today including: Rex, Fido, Spot, Bones, Muffin, and Smokey. Prince was a name we saw many times in the cemetery. The caretaker who let us in said that growing up he even had a dog called Prince.
We also saw more complicated names for dogs including Khaki Trevor, Charlie Phillips, Joe Collett, Uncle Bruce, and King John. We saw a lot of dogs named Fritz which we thought was really cute.
It is sweet to see such an outward affection for animals from such a strict time period. People were not that much different than how we are today, with inviting an animal into their lives and hearts.
