Autumn in New England

All the leaves have fallen off the trees after a soaking rain, so I thought I would post a last glimpse of glorious Autumn leaves from last week's trip to Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

Bigelow Chapel Stained Glass: Detail

Closeup view of part of the stained glass windows at Bigelow Chapel in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. As we learned yesterday from Tom Johnson, the stained glass underwent a 2.5 million dollar renovation in 2006.

This panel shows a mother with two small infants depicting the tragedy of infant mortality. Click to enlarge for more detail. To see an outside view of the Bigelow chapel, visit Quincy Daily Photo.

Originally installed in 1846, the hand-painted glass chancel window measures 21 1/2 feet high by 9 feet wide and is composed of 36 panels containing over 4,000 individual pieces of blown glass. It is considered one of the important early works produced by the Edinburgh based Scottish firm of Ballantine and Allen that also created the now lost windows for the Houses of Parliament in London. It is one of the few examples of that firm’s early work that survive today. It is truly magnificent to see in person.

Update and correction
Tom Johnson, Family Services Coordinator at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, informs me the amount quoted for the restoration of the stained glass window actually covers the entire restoration of the chapel which included the beautiful chancel window, chapel roofs, repointing the pinnacles, woodwork, handicap accessible bathroom, kitchen area and more. I apologize for the confusion.

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Meet Tom Johnson

I met Tom Johnson while visiting the grounds of the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Tom is the Family Services Director for the cemetery and has worked there for seven years. He says that in his job he coordinates services for families and events and loves his job. Prior to working at Mt. Auburn, Tom worked in the funeral industry and for the airlines.

Tom is shown here in the Gothic Revival Bigelow Chapel. He was happy to talk about the cemetery, its magnificent grounds, and the Bigelow Chapel. The Chapel for instance, just finished a 2.5 million dollar restoration of its stained glass windows. I'll have a picture of part of the stained glass tomorrow. He also told me that Mt. Auburn Cemetery is the second largest flyway for birds in North America, definitely a place to visit if you like birding.

One other interesting note about the Bigelow Chapel is that Tom said it will soon be available to rent for weddings at a very reasonable rate. (The only prerequisite is you must watch Four Weddings and a Funeral before booking:)



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This post is being brought to you by the magic of Blogger. I'm not really here, but traveling for a few days and unable to visit or respond to comments. Thanks for visiting.