Wherever you live, take the amazing virtual tour of the Furness Burial Cloister that our social-media wizard Rebecca Harris has created on St. Stephen’s website. 

It’s a terrific way to commune with the departed during the worldwide festivities for the dead, whatever your culture—for Christians, All Hallowtide (October 31-November 2) that culminates in All Souls’ Day, Día de los muertos and Jour des morts on 2 November. The tour is as gorgeous as it is informative.

Accessed through the link on the Art & Architecture page (“Furness Burial Cloister”), the tour starts with the history of the original churchyard, then proceeds to the recent award-winning project of integrating and bringing new life to that zone within the building by Frank Furness that covered it. Dubbed the Furness Burial Cloister, it’s now a moving, versatile space that merges new and old communities.

To learn about the departed now among us—and THIS IS ESPECIALLY WONDERFUL— hit “Learn more” to access a floor map that, with clicks on individual numbered vaults, illustrates the epitaphs AND their transcription AND provides the stories of those buried there. They’re all different. Some of the stories are colorful, some uncomfortable. Some are enticingly sparse. The stories are all works in progress—we hope YOU can provide more information.

Enjoy. And, when you can, come explore the Cloister in person on our open days!