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George Orwell Gravesite Photographs

In April of 1999, my friend Max Minkoff and I visited London. For me it was a sort of pilgrimage to see places George Orwell worked, lived and ate, and in particular the place where he was buried. Orwell himself would probably not have approved of this quest--he always affected a humble image, doing his best to blend into the proletariat and writing in a self-deprecating style. But behind his posturing, one can always see a hint of his ego poking though. I'm sure he would get more satisfaction than he would admit if he knew that his gravesite is so popular to visit that it is mentioned on the village map and that his name comes before the other famous cemetary inhabitant, Prime Minister Asquith.

On Friday, April 30th, 1999, after two days photographing in London, Max and I went to Paddington Station to travel out to Sutton Courtenay. The place is so small that there is no train to it; the train goes to Didcot Parkway, and from there you must take a bus. The bus does not go to the center of town, so you must ask the driver when to get off and get walking directions from him. We managed to get lost and tramp around for twenty minutes before we could find anyone to help us, as it was the middle of the day. I should mention that the train and bus are timed just so that you miss your connection both going and coming, making the trip last all day.

Orwell apparently had no previous connection to Sutton Courtenay, none that I can find anyway. He wanted to be buried "in a country churchyard", although he was not a member of any church and had been a lifelong skeptic. The Englishness of being buried in a churchyard appealed to him. Sutton Courtenay was apparently chosen through Violet Asquith, former director of the BBC, an acquaintance of Orwell, whose father, Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, had been buried there.



Sutton Courtenay map
Once you reach the center of town, the church is very easy to find. It is at the north end of the town square, which is on the right of this map. The George and Dragon pub is next door; Max and I had lunch there after seeing the grave site; it serves a passable fish and chips with good beer. More...

All Saints Church, Sutton Courtenay
Here is a view of the church from the town common. To quote from www.britannia.com: Sutton Courtenay Church is full of fascinating history. The 14th century nave is reminiscent of the great wool churches of Norfolk. The interior shows bizarrely reused Norman zig-zag work as well as later carved capitals. On the tower door, there are crusader crosses inscribed by soldiers either hoping for or given thanks for a safe return from the Crusades. ... The whole building was nearly destroyed during the Civil War when munitions stored by the parliamentarian vicar exploded in the church. More...

South side of church
To reach the graveyard, pass by the south side of the church. The yard will be directly ahead of you as you go down the path past this, the south entrance to the church. Be sure to check the bulletin board as you go by. Of this, britannia says: The main south door is surrounded by a fine brick porch built with money left to the poor of the parish by the 15th century Bishop Thomas Bekynton of Bath & Wells! More...

Directions to Orwell's grave
Posted on the bulletin board at the south door to the church are the directions to Orwell's grave. You can tell they have been posted because of the confusion caused by Orwell having been the author's pen name. His true name was Eric Arthur Blair, and that is the name he is buried under. He seems to have used both names interchangably, being known to some people primarily by one and to some by the other. He never legally changed his name, or seems to have any inclination to do so. More...

Graveyard panorama
You can see how green and peaceful the graveyard is. In fact, the whole town seemed to be like this on a lovely Spring day. We had beautiful weather the whole trip--I'm told England can be rainy and dark in April, but it was shirtsleeve weather the whole time. Orwell's grave is just about in the middle of this picture. More...

Orwell's grave
Here is what I had come so far to see. Orwell is buried looking east toward the rising sun, a bit odd when you think about how pessimistic he comes across in his writings, but then I guess you really don't get a choice about the direction you are buried. There are several other pictures of his grave on the Internet; try google to see a few. Some show the rose bush and some do not, so I'm not sure when it was planted. Orwell would have liked to have a rose buried on his chest; it strikes me as in harmony with his idealization of country living. More...

The headstone
Here is a close up of the headstone. The rose bush does tend to get in the way of the inscription, which reads:

HERE LIES
ERIC ARTHUR BLAIR
BORN JUNE 25th 1903
DIED JANUARY 21st 1950

I love the way the stone is weathering, with streaks of lichen growing on it. It is holding up much better than other stones that are just a few years older; the lettering is still very sharp and the edges show little sign of wear. I use this photo as my desktop wallpaper on my machine at home. More...

For other photos, including Prime Minister Asquith's grave and more shots of the church, please see the raw photos page.


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