Two years on: Horton Cemetery Memorial Garden
This World Mental Health Day marks the 2nd anniversary of the ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ memorial garden launch event, which was the result of a prestigious ‘everyday heritage’ grant from Historic England. Originally intended as a three week exhibition, the 10 October 2023 installation was extended to three months due to public demand. It received an incredible 8,000 visitors, with 100+ filling out feedback postcards about the garden, the Cemetery, and Horton’s neglected and disputed status. These postcards have since gone on to form the basis of a research article by project lead Professor Alana Harris entitled: ‘Out of Sight, Out of Place? Rhetorical Space, Place Identity, and the Asylum Cemetery as an Affective Site for Everyday Heritage’ (forthcoming), and the patient testimonies and photographs used in the associated art exhibitions are discussed in an open-access published article.
In the two years since the garden was unveiled, there has been a wave of academic, social, and political activity around Horton and the plight of its interred patients and their families. In June, journalist and broadcaster Mick Coyle began his ‘Lost Souls’ investigation into the phenomenon of neglected pauper cemeteries across the UK, visiting Horton and interviewing the great granddaughter of a patient and restorative justice campaigners. The project has spawned further interviews, reports, podcasts, articles, and documentaries, all seeking to raise awareness about the neglect of pauper graves. Professor Harris also spoke to the BBC earlier this week about the derelict state of Horton Cemetery and her desire to speak to other relatives of those buried there.
In September 2025, a petition was launched for a national memorial to be built in honour of those buried and forgotten in pauper lunatic cemeteries. The petition is supported by a growing coalition of activists, journalists, charities, and historians, including mental health journalist and advocate Mick Coyle, the Friends of Horton Cemetery, Country Asylums, and The Horton Nine Thousand project under the umbrella of King’s College London. At the same time, conversations are ongoing with MPs and party spokespeople about political intervention in the plight of the pauper gravesites. There is widespread support for the initiative from across the political spectrum and in both England and the devolved regions, highlighting the universal impact of this issue.
10 October 2025
