The Hardy Tree

I thought I knew just about everywhere in London, but no. I discovered this amazing sight a couple of days ago in St Pancras Church Yard.

The story is fascinating...

The name Hardy refers to Thomas Hardy the novelist famous for his Wessex stories.

Before he started his second career Hardy worked for Mr. Arlhur Blomfield, an architect based in Covent Garden. During the 1860s the Midland Railwayline was being built over part of the original St. Pancras Churchyard. Blomfield was commissioned by the Bishop of London to supervise the proper exhumation of human remains and dismantling of tombs. He passed this unenviable task to his protegé Thomas Hardy in. c.l865. Hardy would have spent many hours in St. Pancras Churchyard . . . overseeing the careful removal of bodies and tombs from the land on which the railway was being built.

Hardy placed some of the tombstones around the base of this Ash tree. As time passed the tree grew, enveloping some of the stones so that they are now totally integrated.