Maude Egerton King's grave restored

Following on from finding Maude's grave at St Bartholomew's cemetery in the Summer, the church and the Haslemere Educational Museum have been incredibly helpful in restoring and preserving Maude's grave.

Maude Egerton King's gravestone, December 2015

• Philip Hunt, St Bartholomew's Churchyard representative managed to persuade Waverley Borough Council to clear the site of Maude's grave, and the grave site was cleared at the beginning of December
• Haslemere Educational Museum agreed to take custody of Maude's deteriorating wooden grave marker, and it is now currently drying out at the museum in a controlled environment
• I am now looking after Maude's grave in the absence of any next of kin!

Maude Egerton King's overgrown grave, Summer 2015

Maude Egerton King's grave, December 2015

Maude's grave was barely visible in the Summer, as the site was overgrown with shrubs and brambles.  The recent cut back reveals the gravestone to Maude and her daughter Katharine King.

Maude Egerton King's grave marker, drying out in transit to
Haslemere Educational Museum

Maude Egerton King's grave marker, drying out in transit to
Haslemere Educational Museum

  

We decorated Maude's grave with four ivy crowns, fresh from the Tree Dressing Ceremony at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum.  I would like to think that Maude may have supported such an event which celebrates the English folk traditions.  I think that the simplicity of a crown fashioned out of ivy from the Sussex woods could have appealed to her.  I hope she likes them.