A charming compendium of gravestones for animals that enriched homes, saved lives, won bets, inspired poets, transported munitions, endured danger, achieved notoriety, and captured hearts.
Animal memorials range from such celebrated monuments as those to the faithful Edinburgh terrier Greyfriars Bobby and the Duke of Wellington's horse Copenhagen, to a modest stone commemorating a pet rabbit 'Goldie - God Bless our Bunny'.
Nor is marking animal graves a peculiarly British practice. Prince Chula of Siam, a lonely student at Cambridge in the 1930s, donated a dogs' drinking fountain to commemorate the life of his dog Tony. American soldiers based at Alresford, Winchester, during the Second World War were depressed by the death of their adopted dog Hambone Junior, killed by a car, and years later the American consul unveiled a permanent memorial to him.
Each monument records a piece of history, a moment of loss, and underlines our relationship with animals. In celebrating their lives we enrich our own.
