These MortaL REMAINS Project
These Mortal Remains is a contemporary photographic survey that began in October 2023 with which I attempt to document interesting and unique funerary monuments in our local parish churches, focusing primarily on Greater London and neighbouring churches that perimeter the M25 motorway.
This project was initially inspired by a brief visit to St Mary’s in Walthamstow Village which has an extraordinary collection of monuments spanning several centuries and design movements. Though I’d also be doing a disservice by not mentioning the photographic works of C.B.Newham and his marvellous book Country Church Monuments which has deeply informed and inspired me to kickstart this project. Apart from Greater London boroughs the project has already taken me to churches in Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent and Essex.
The Wilbraham Monument at St Marys in Monken Hadley (near Barnet)
The monument to Mary Strutt at St Peters in Little Warley (near Upminster)
Overall, my hopes for this project is to raise awareness and to inform the general public to visit these parish churches and to simply appreciate the centuries worth of history that they have to offer, with the monuments themselves being the real hidden gems that make the visit even more rewarding.
The saying ‘if you wish to know about local history, visit your local church’ is undoubtedly a core belief and outcome of this project as generally our parish churches are as old as the villages and towns they reside in for which generations of history are physically recorded through architecture, sculpture, artworks and carvings. In particular, our church monuments immortalise former citizens, from nobility to commoners, who may have otherwise been forgotten to time. Their monuments are a nationally important aspect of social and artistic history which showcases outstanding craftsmanship from a bygone age, different tastes and changes in monumental style throughout the periods including the fashions of the people commemorated and most easily overlooked is the amount of heraldry we are presented with.
Detail of the Merry Monument at St Mary’s in Walthamstow Village
Monument to the wives of John Denham at St Johns in Egham (near Staines)
The Clayton Monument at St Mary’s in Bletchingley (near Redhill)
The project itself is mainly presented on Instagram where I post regular content from photography to short videos however I intend to release a book at the end of this project having compiled my best images alongside some relevant information from my personal research. I also intend to host an exhibition of my photography at a later date as well as doing a few talks regarding the project so do follow my Instagram page if able to though I will also be adding to my new blog here when possible.
@these_mortal_remains on Instagram: