This paper will be delivered as an illustrated talk, using contemporary and historical images of St George’s Field and images of the artwork I have made in response to it. St George’s Field is now a disused cemetery within the grounds of Leeds University. Using Barthes Camera Lucida as a theoretical starting point and an interdisciplinary approach, it will contain an overview of St George’s Fields rich historical and social narrative and will concentrate upon its transformation from farmland to cemetery to public park during the last two hundred years. Although St George’s Field retains its sepulchral atmosphere and appearance, it hasn’t officially been used as a burial site for almost fifty years. Its first burial was in July 1835, and its last official burial was in October 1969. It is the final resting place of over 93,000 people and is now a park open to the public at the centre of the Leeds University campus. It continues to be used as a site for new memorials and memorialisation.
Siobhan Maguire-Broad 2017
Leeds College of Art, UK
Once and now – an overview of St George’s Field
Events
The Cemetery Research Group runs two events a year: in May and in November. Follow the links and send in an abstract