When you crane your neck to look beyond the gateway, elegant tombstones, despite being dilapidated, covered by creepers and climbers catch your eye. This vast piece of land under the bridge (it replaced the Stanley Viaduct, a narrow pedestrian way, opposite the Central Station), belongs to the Church of St Mary’s in Fort St George.
Formerly known as the English Burial Ground, the St Mary’s cemetery is situated just a kilometre from the Central Railway Station on Pallavan Salai. In the 1940’s, the cemetery was said to be a picturesque spot with jasmine hedges, flowering plants, huge trees and patches of lawn.
Earlier, the cemetery was located on the ‘Guava Garden’, presently occupied by buildings of the Law College. Later all the tombstones were destroyed and the new burial ground came up on the Island in the early 1970’s.
Originally written for DTNext, read more at https://www.dtnext.in/News/Citizen/2017/04/27094807/1032335/St-Marys-cemetery-in-urgent-need-of-maintenance.vpf