Step Back into Time
Today, the Burying Ground is one stop on Boston’s iconic Freedom Trail. Passing through the ornate wrought iron gates gives a very real sense of stepping back into time.
Image: Susannah Ross
Dramatic Bands of Light
Shadows from the tree canopy above create dramatic bands of light and dark across the ground. Where sun hits the back of the headstones, striking textures emerge, telling a story about a time when more rudimentary stone fabrication methods were employed.
Image: Susannah Ross
Lives from Hundreds of Years Ago
The details inscribed on each stone tell the story of lives that came hundreds of years before ours, in times when, sadly, life expectancy was lower and infant mortality rates were higher.
Image: Susannah Ross
Emerging from Ivy
A headstone from 1839 lay right on the property line of land taken over by King James II for his new church. The wrought iron fence sharply defines the boundary between Chapel and Burying Ground to this day. The uncomfortable proximity of the headstone to the fence is softened by the bed of ivy from which it seems to emerge.
Image: Susannah Ross
Little Grows Under the Trees
The ground drops significantly to the eastern rear corner of the site. A paved walk was installed as a part of the recent site restoration, defining a route for visitors in an attempt to preserve the burial sites. The shade of the massive trees sets an appropriate mood, but clearly has prevented much from growing beneath them.
Image: Susannah Ross
Trees Enclose
The scale of the trees competes with the adjacent architecture, providing a ceiling and sense of enclosure to the space, allowing visitors to experience the Burial Ground without being distracted by its surroundings.
Image: Susannah Ross
The Irregular Surface Conveys a Sense of History
Placement of headstones and planting of trees over time ensure that the ground will always be shaped the way it was at a moment in time. The clean lines of modern city streets and architecture contrast with the irregular surface of the Burial Ground, physically conveying a sense of history.
Image: Susannah Ross
John Winthrop Lies Here
One of the most prominent people buried here is John Winthrop, Massachusetts’s first governor. There’s no mistaking the prominence of the person in life by the scale and elegance of the stone that marks his—and successive generations’—final resting place.
Image: Susannah Ross
Certain Views Highlight Contrasts
Certain views from the Burial Ground highlight the sharp contrast between the noisy bustle of city life that lies just beyond the iron gates and the cool, quiet peace of the cemetery.
Image: Susannah Ross
Striking Shadows
Sunlight gives the traditional form of the fence a life beyond itself, casting striking shadows and patterns onto the plain surfaces of concrete and granite at its base.
Image: Susannah Ross