Season 3 Episode 7
The Grim is opening the gate to Brompton Cemetery in London, England, one of the Victorian Magnificent Seven cemeteries, nestled between Kensington and Chelsea. Born from a city that had run out of room for its dead, Brompton holds more than 205,000 souls beneath its lime-lined avenue, domed chapel, and sealed catacombs. In this cemetery history episode, we explore London's Victorian burial crisis, the grim legends hidden in its stones, and the remarkable people who rest here.
Along the way: the overflowing churchyards and Enon Chapel's "Dancing on the Dead"; body snatchers and the cholera epidemics that terrified London; Emma Shaw, Brompton's first burial; the catacombs and the lead coffins that could burst, with a look back at Highgate's exploding coffins; Dr. John Snow and the Broad Street pump; suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and the gravestone that calls her only a wife; Zeppelin-downing pilot Reginald Warneford; racing driver Percy Lambert; Frederick Leyland and Whistler's Peacock Room feud; the Marchesa Luisa Casati; Lakota warrior Long Wolf and his journey home to South Dakota; Hannah Courtoy's Egyptian tomb and the time machine legend; Sir William Crookes and his séances; Chelsea FC founder Gus Mears; and the Beatrix Potter names hidden among the graves.
Victorian graves, sealed tombs, and the stories that refuse to stay buried, from The Grim.
