Field trip to the South Park Street Cemetery

On March 18, 2023, the Second-Year students of the Department of English, Loreto College went on a field trip to the South Park Street Cemetery under the guidance of Dr. Subhasree Basu. The trip was intended as an extension of classroom lectures on Thomas Gray and Graveyard Poetry.
The trip started from the Loreto College building and included references to other famous historical buildings in Kolkata. On reaching the cemetery, the students closely examined the tombstones and engaged with their forgotten legacies. Presently non-functional, the cemetery was opened in 1767 and is not attached to a church. The architectural influence of the colonial era, the gothic motifs on the gravestones, and the obelisks rich in neo-classical formations were minutely observed and studied by the group. Some of the famous tombs that the students encountered during their expedition were those of William Jones and Charles Stuart (popularly referred to as Hindoo Stuart). Of particular interest were the tombs of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio and Walter Dickens, second son of Charles Dickens. Special emphasis was laid on the reading of the epitaphs and the history behind some of these structures.
The students also participated in an activity of creative self-expression within the premises of the cemetery. The trip encouraged the students to reflect on the lived experiences associated with the city’s colonial past as well as the intersections between the literary and the historical.