Visiting George Orwell In Sutton Courtenay.

George Orwell's Grave.

The original plan for yesterday was to go to Winchester to see Jane Austen’s grave and other places of historical interest. I changed my mind at the last minute though because I thought Winchester might be too touristy at this time of year. Also, the weather forecast wasn’t great, and I didn’t fancy plodding around the streets of Winchester in the rain. Jane can wait for another day. Instead, I thought it would be better to go and see the grave of another author who I admire, namely George Orwell. I think he was one of the greatest and most influential writers of the 20^th century. I have read several of his books, including Animal Farm, Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Homage To Catalonia, Down And Out In Paris And London, and Keep The Aspidistra Flying. 

David Astor.

It didn’t take that long to get to the village of Sutton Courtenay in Oxfordshire. We went via Devizes, Avebury, Marlborough, Hungerford, Newbury, and Didcot. It was a bit tricky finding the right road out of Didcot and when we arrived in the village, we found the road was closed. It looked like they were putting in a new drain or something. We had to do a long detour and approach the village from the other side. Finally, after asking about three people for directions we arrived at the picturesque churchyard of All Saints Church. It was quite a large churchyard with hundreds of gravestones, and we didn’t have a clue where to start looking. I spotted a lady who must be a church volunteer, she was doing some topiary on a tree.

All Saint's Church.

 “Excuse me, we are looking for the grave of George Orwell, do you know where it is please?”. “Yes”, she cheerily replied, “Go right down to the end and you will find it three rows back, it has a red rose on it, the grave has his real name on it which is Eric Blair”. “Yes, I knew that, thank you very much”. It was beginning to drizzle rain quite steadily now, and despite the ladies’ instructions we still couldn’t find the grave. I was getting fed up and a bit damp. Luckily, we met a couple of people who were also looking for the grave, and between the four of we finally found it. As you would expect with a democratic socialist like George Orwell the grave is very simple, it just says, ’Here lies Eric Arthur Blair, Born June 25^th, 1903, Died January 21^st, 1950’.  That is it, plain and simple, no bragging about his achievements or quotes from his books or anything. A friend of mine who knew I was coming here said I should leave some little plastic pigs, horses, sheep, and cows on the grave to create a miniature Animal Farm, but I didn’t have any, and that would have been very disrespectful. 

Asquith's Grave.

Nearby, I spotted the memorial stone of another great man who was Orwell’s friend David Astor. He was at one time the owner and editor of The Observer newspaper and the son of Nancy Astor the first woman to take her seat in the House Of Commons. Despite being a multi-millionaire, he lived very simply and was a great philanthropist and civil rights campaigner and friend of Nelson Mandela.  It was Orwell’s wish to be buried in a simple English churchyard and it was his friend David Astor who arranged for Orwell’s burial in this quiet spot. Astor’s stone  is just as simple as you would expect.  It was placed here by Astor's wife Bridget. David Astor's ashes were actually scattered in the grounds of his home Sutton Courtenay Manor. We also came across the grave of Herbert Asquith who was British Prime Minister from 1908-1916. He was the man who took this country into World War 1 in 1914 but had to resign two years later. His grave is much more flamboyant, more like a tomb, with lots of inscription on it. I much prefer the simplicity of Orwell and Astor. 

Inside The Church.

Inside the church we also found a wall memorial to George Orwell. I think it was put there by the Orwell Society. There is also a cabinet with lots of information about him. As we left the churchyard, I said cheerio to the nice topiary lady. “Thank you very much, we found it ok, mission accomplished. I expect you get a lot of people looking for George Orwell’s grave”. “Oh yes,” she replied, “I think you are the fifth people to ask today”. I think that is great, 71 years after he died people are still interested in George Orwell. I think the reason is partly because the subjects that he wrote about are still relevant today, especially such books as Animal Farm, 1984 and Homage To Catalonia where he warned about the dangers of totalitarianism and fascism. Expressions that Orwell used, such as in 1984 Big Brother. Thought Police, Room 101, memory hole, Newspeak, doublethink, and thoughtcrime, or in Animal Farm, ‘All creatures are born equal, but some are more equal than others’ have become part of the language. Many things he warned against have come true, you only have to look at China, North Korea, Myanmar, Belarus or many other places to see that. Another thing that I like about Orwell is that he practiced what he preached, such as when he went to The Spanish Civil War to try and help stem the rising fascist tide. He almost died when he was shot in the throat by a sniper during the battle for Barcelona.

I better stop now before this post turns into a political rant. After that we went to nearby Abingdon where we sat in the van and ate fish & chips while looking at the rain. Then drove home slowly as we kept getting stuck behind tractors and their wisps of hay and got back to The Crown for a well-deserved drink. I’m pleased we made the effort to go and visit the great George Orwell whose work is as important today as it ever was.

Postscript: I am very grateful to a native of Sutton Courtenay Arthur Hutt for providing me with extra information about George Orwell & David Astor. Much appreciated.