Sepulchre Lane

At Kendal there is a wonderfully darkly named street called Sepulchre Lane. It probably bordered a medieval chapel, but in any event, the Quakers bought it in 1656 as a place to bury the dead, their Society eschewing the state church’s burial grounds with its clergymen and prayer books. The sign there placed by Kendal Civic Society states that at some point, a ‘renegade’ Quaker churned up the nearby Underbarrow burial ground, so Friends of that district were required to use Kendal’s. Today, it is a peaceful communal garden offering some interesting views of the town.

Often, people remark how peaceful and pleasant is Salem Chapel’s burial ground. It affords good views, and has a nicer address that that of Kendal’s Friends’: Long Lover Lane. Yet as the bizarre events at Underbarrow demonstrated, peaceful graveyards can be desecrated, disturbed, spoiled and allowed to decay. Many times have I witnessed tramps or listless teens loitering in cemeteries while they smoke their fags and quaff cheap cider. I daresay they didn’t trouble themselves to locate a Public Convenience, either. So never mind the tranquillity of your body’s chosen resting place; rather, have a care for your soul’s final destination. You have bright paradise with Christ Jesus if your sins are forgiven, or dark hades without Him if your sins remain your own. I’d sooner be dumped at the local tip and know I go to be with Christ, than have the grandest tomb in the most arcadian graveyard, while my soul awaited the terrifying prospect of righteous judgement.