3-028-654 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Monument to the late Lord Brougham at Cannes, [south of France], 1869. 'The site of this cemetery is on a granite rock, sloping down to the small river Riou...The ground contains rather less than twelve acres, the northern portion of which is appropriated for the interment of Protestants. The place granted in perpetuity by the town of Cannes for Lord Brougham's tomb was excavated from the rock, forming a platform 20 ft. square. The monument is a gigantic cross of plain granite, of severe magnificence, without ornament or carving. The shaft is a monolith; the cross, 15 ft. in height, weighs upwards of 8 tons, whilst the whole measures from its base 24 ft. There were the usual difficulties in obtaining so large a piece of stone and in constructing a carriage to transport it from the quarry on the mountain to its destination, a distance of sixteen miles. There were also some delays in working it, so that nearly a year has been occupied in the completion of the work since the order for its erection. This unadorned but imposing memorial bears no inscription but one merely recording the illustrious dead in these simple words: HENRICVS BROVGHAM. NATVS MDCCLXXVIII. DECESSIT MDCCCLXVIII. Nothing more was necessary, and nothing can be in better taste'. From "Illustrated London News", 1869.