Your dalesmen, then, do in each others thoughts If every English churchyard were like ours. The stone-cutters, ‘tis true, might beg their bread In fact, as Wordsworth illustrates in the dialogue between Leonard and the Priest from his poem "The Brothers," sometimes even markers were unnecessary. They would be remembered as individuals, not just names on stones. The difference of course, at least in rural settlements, was that the dead were still thought of as part of the community. Even as late as the 19th century, graveyards were favourite places for Sunday outings and picnics. It was a custom in the early days of Christianity, and indeed in pre-Christian times, to eat a meal at the burial place of a loved one on the anniversary of their death. I wonder how many of those who use this park today realize they are continuing an age-old tradition as they stroll along its shady walks, or enjoy their lunches at the picnic tables? Do they sometimes pause and think of those who lie buried beneath their feet? I like to think they do. In 1935 the terrace was dismantled and the stones and fragments stored at Fort York where they remained until the early 1950s when they were placed in their present position at the base of the cenotaph. The wooden markers rotted away completely, while many of the stone ones were left as broken fragments. Over the years the memorial terrace deteriorated due both to vandalism, and the effects of weather. We actually know the position of each grave thanks to a plan of the site which was made before the removal of the markers. When the park was created in 1886, all the legible grave markers, both wood and stone, were moved to a specially created memorial terrace on the western side of the lot, and additional earth was added around the now unmarked grave mounds to level the surface of the ground, but the graves themselves were not disturbed. A cluster of mostly illegible grave markers at the foot of the cenotaph in the centre of the park is the only above ground indication of the site. The burying ground, opened under Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in 1793 or 1794, is a rectangle of land (approximately 300 feet by 125 feet) oriented to true compass east, set diagonally across the modern park. Victoria Square Memorial Park, at the corner of Portland and Wellington West (just east of Bathurst), contains within its boundaries the oldest surviving European burying ground in historic Toronto. 94), and is reproduced on the Fort York website courtesy of the York Pioneer and Historical Society. This article first appeared in The York Pioneer, 1999 (vol.
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