Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: A most unique non-literary memento of Thomas Hardy
Posted by staff / July 28, 2012
It’s rare that any of us are able to leave a lasting mark on the world at the tender age of twenty-five, much less go on to become famous in another field entirely, but that appears to be the case with the author of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Far From the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy.
Before delving into the literary world, Hardy worked for an architectural firm that was charged with the task of moving graves to make way for the railroad system in London. While the graves were moved far from the site, the problem of what to do with the stones arose. Rather than transporting them, Hardy arranged them around an ash tree, which has grown in and amongst this strange monument in the last century creating a most curious landmark as the ash tree slowly combines with the dust of the disintegrating stones.
Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Sounds like something that belongs in a novel.
Full story at Kuriositas.
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