TOMB OF THE BURTON'S

Tomb of the week department.
Back in the earliest days of Forbidden Planet’s first London store we brought over Philip Jose Farmer and his wife, Bette, for a signing.
During their stay Farmer was keen to visit the resting place of Victorian explorer and protagonist of his Riverworld series Sir Richard Burton.
We located Burton’s tomb in the churchyard of St Mary’s Roman Catholic church in Mortlake, near Richmond Upon Thames.

The tomb, designed by Burton’s wife, Lady Isabel Burton, is extraordinary - a marble and stone depiction of an Arabian tent.
There’s an iron ladder that takes you to a window on the roof, where you can look down into the tomb and make out the lead coffins of Burton and his wife lying side by side, with a small ornate table between bearing an Arabic coffee pot and cups.
The cemetery was neglected and very overgrown, and the tomb was in disrepair.
We managed to arrange an interview with Farmer for The Times, in which he mentioned the sorry state of the tomb, and a campaign by Burton enthusiasts eventually led to its renovation.

Here’s how the tomb looks today.
There’s also a stained glass window in the church commemorating Burton.