After my visit to Kilmorey Mausolum earlier in the week, I took a trip to Mortlake to see Burton’s Masoleum another memorial looked after by the Environment Trust. Set within the grounds of St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, this mausoleum is the resting place of legendary Victorian, Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890).
According to the Environment Trust’s website, this is the brief story behind this intriguing man and why this incongruous structure can be found in a South West London suburb:
“Few have been able to match the width of his talent and range of his accomplishments. Soldier, scholar, poet, cynic, geographer, magnificent swordsman, fearless traveller and a pioneer of successful exploration in Africa, he wrote many books and papers including a translation of the Kama Sutra. He soaked up the lore and life of Islam and learned to recite the Qu’ran. Nevertheless he believed deeply in firm British rule in its burgeoning Empire.”
“After Burton died in 1890 his devoted wife, Isabel, had the Mausoleum built to represent an Arab tent; a rippling canvas set in stone from the Forest of Dean. It is of great cultural importance for its fusion of the Christian and Muslim symbols. Muslim symbols are found in the frieze of the crescent moons and several stars around the pelmet structure. Inside there are a number of oriental lamps from Burton’s happiest posting to Damascus and strings of camel bells.”
This time I took my other lens, the one which came with the camera. As it’s an 18mm – 55mm, this would enable me to take different shots with a different focal length rather than being restricted to the single one of the 50mm lens.
The other challenge I set myself was to set the camera to manual so I would have to adjust the setting to ensure each shot wasn’t under or over exposed.
Here are the results:
Criteria Ref: P1, P2 & P4.
Photo Persephone 