Flora Thompson’s grave

Born Flora Jane Timms, Flora Thompson was a novelist and poet best known for her semi-autobiographical trilogy, ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’. Published between 1939 and 1943, the three books, ‘Lark Rise’, ‘Over To Candleford’ and ‘Candleford Green’, offer a gentle portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century.

Loosely based around Flora's childhood experiences, the books describe village life through the seasons of the year. The eldest of six children, Flora was born on the 5th December 1876 in Juniper Hill in Oxfordshire and worked in various post offices in the south of England. She married John Thompson, a sorting clerk, and the couple moved to Bournemouth. They then moved to Dartmouth where they lived in a house called The Outlook, situated in the narrow road above the town called Above Town where they lived from 1928-1940. Next, they moved to Brixham, where a plaque reading, ‘Flora Thompson came to Brixham in 1940 and completed her three novels - ‘Over to Candleford’, ‘Candleford Green’ and ‘Still Glides the Stream’ in this house.’ marks their house, Lauriston, in New Road.

In 1940, Peter, their youngest child, had joined the Merchant Navy and was killed at sea. Flora was devastated and never recovered the loss. She died from a heart attack aged seventy and is buried at Longcross Cemetery in Dartmouth. Her headstone, in the shape of a book, bears her name and that of her son.

When I visited the cemetery, I was struck by the fact that there were no markers to indicate the location of her grave unlike those of other authors which I have visited. It lies at the end of a row of neatly maintained war graves which makes its slightly neglected condition even more noticeable. Tucked into the hedgerow and surrounded by weeds, it seems a sad memorial to anyone, let alone a writer whose work has brought pleasure to so many.

Longcross Cemetery

Dartmouth