EGYPT IN ENGLAND PROJECT
An
Egyptian pyramid in a rural English churchyard? Where, who and why?
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An attempt to gather together details and locations of England's significant items of Egyptological interest has just been launched by Sussex Egyptology Society press officer Mick Oakey - and he is calling on enthusiasts and Egyptologists everywhere to help in making it as accurate and comprehensive as possible.
"Although some excellent books and projects have been done on the Egyptianising monuments of London", says Mick, "as far as we know no-one has tried to produce a countrywide guidebook or website on similar lines. The idea would be to provide, between one set of covers, brief details and illustrations of Egyptian-style buildings, antiquities collections large and small (including those in country houses), Egyptian-style graves and monuments, single items such as Cleopatra's Needle, and so on.
"Local input is vital to such a project, so, in the same way as we have been producing the BES Directory of British Egyptological Societies over the past few years, I would like to make it a joint effort involving regional societies and individuals all over the country.
"Given sufficient response, I would very much like to expand the project to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland - but let's not run before we can walk. The first step is to make a start, and also to ask for feedback on whether people would find it useful."
If you can help with material or suggestions for the Egypt in England project, please contact Mick Oakey via e-mail at mail@egyptology-uk.com (please include "Egypt in England" in the header) or by post at 13 Swallows Lane, Dial Post, West Sussex RH13 8NL.
Photograph by Janet Wilton
Answer:
Built in 1811 to house the body of eccentric local landowner and MP John "Mad Jack" Fuller (1757-1834), this 25ft-high stone pyramid is in Brightling churchyard, six miles east of Heathfield in East Sussex. Mad Jack, an enthusiastic builder of follies, was reputedly interred sitting upright, in full evening dress, in an iron chair, with a roast chicken and a bottle of port laid before him to sustain him in the afterlife. Sadly, the story is untrue; he is buried under the pyramid.
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