The End, to Start With
Thinking about the lives of my favourite authors often feels like an abstract exercise. Even more so if they are considered literary ‘legends’ – Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen – their level of prestige often elevates them to a point where they feel completely removed from reality, and it becomes difficult to consider them as real people who lived real lives. For authors further back in the past, whom we already have precious little information about, they become almost mythological, above the normality of life and death, existing mostly in the hearts and minds of generations of readers.
I was therefore fairly taken aback when in Wallingford earlier this year (visiting for no particular reason other than living nearby and hearing it was a nice town), to have essentially stumbled onto the grave of one of the best selling fiction authors of all time. An author who, for me personally, resides on the highest of pedestals and primest location on my bookshelves.
Once we come to terms with the fact that our heroes were in fact, relatively ordinary people, we often imagine them being laid to rest in in the most prestigious of places – in fact, I had assumed that this particular author was buried in Westminster Abbey in poets corner like many other beloved authors, including one of my favourites, Thomas Hardy.
So, I had hardly expected to find an author as prolific as Dame Agatha Christie in an unassuming little town like Wallingford!
Agatha Christie in Wallingford and Cholsey
Wallingford is an incredibly picturesque market town located in South Oxfordshire, of which Christie lived on the outskirts for over 40 years with her husband, Max Mallowan. They enjoyed it as their home away from the limelight, and Christie completed many of her novels there, including Dumb Witness, which itself includes a town that many suspect of being modelled after Wallingford.
The town is as quaint as they come; riverside walks, a sprawling antiques centre, delightful boutiques and even the ruins of the historic Wallingford castle, where Empress Matilida fled to in 1141. There is even an Agatha Christie trail you can do, with boards along the route ‘narrated’ by the Queen of crime herself (these boards were actually how I found out the Christie connection when I visited the town in the first place!).
Having passed away at her home in Wallingford, she was buried nearby in Cholsey, where she had been a worshiper of St Mary’s Church – and it is in this churchyard that she lies now.
Curtain: Christie’s Final Resting Place
I may have pictured Agatha Christie somewhere grand like Westminster Abbey, but actually, knowing how touristy, crowded and grandiose the abbey actually is, I think St Mary’s Churchyard is infinitely better as a final resting place.
Even as far as churchyards go, it is extremely verdant. Surrounded by fields and itself carpeted in grass and flowers, there are barely any other buildings in the skyline – quite the contrast to London, and especially a contrast to the abbey on a bright sunny day such as the one I visited on. Rabbits hop across burial plots, skipping across the churchyard and happily resting and grazing on grass. It’s an incredibly quiet and peaceful place that feels very connected to nature, which I think the best churches often are.
Something I particularly loved is that, every now and then, a heritage steam train can be seen rolling across the landscape in the distance, evocative of some of Christie’s beloved train mysteries (which are some of my favourite of her works).
The tombstone itself sits in a shady corner of the graveyard, and although it is more large and ornate than a typical headstone, I was again surprised by how discreet it is for a such a household name. I wouldn’t have been surprised to be greeted by a massive statue (though, there is a statue or two of Christie in the town), or a tomb-like structure akin to the ones you see for the famous residents of Highgate cemetery.
Little Grey Cells At Work
The silence of the graveyard made my visit feel like a solemn experience, and the significance of the fact that I was standing above the final resting place of one of my most read authors, let alone the worlds’, was not lost on me. I have always considered Christie as having one of the more glamorous author lives – her 11 day disappearance being a testament to the mystery of her own world. But the quiet solitude of Cholsey and the understated nature of Wallingford made me consider Christie in a more guarded light (although she is perhaps all the more mysterious for it!) After all, it’s a little funny to read dozens of books about murder and scandal, while trying to picture the very sentimental atmosphere of Wallingford!
It’s also always humbling to see the grave of someone as famous as Christie, if only to serve as a reminder that in spite of fame, wealth and recognition, we all end up in much the same place in the end. I felt a similar feeling when visiting Jane Austen’s very modest grave slab in Winchester.
On a more cheerful note, it also made me really want to read more Agatha Christie books! I just finished reading Lord Edgware Dies and I’m really looking forward to diving into more Poirot and Marple going forward. I also just love visiting book related locations in general – earlier in the year I visited another church which is linked to J.L. Carr’s A Month in the Country, and the childhood stomping grounds of Kenneth Grahame. If you’re in South England and you have any other bookish places to recommend, please please do share as I will almost certainly go visit them.
Have you visited Wallingford, Cholsey or any other Christie connected places? Or have you visited the grave of any other famous authors? Let me know in the comments below!
For more of my adventures in bookish places, see my series ‘Literary Britain’ here.
