John Ruskin (1819 - 1900) - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Ruskin was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University in 1869, and it was here that he met Hardwicke Rawnsley who was studying at Balliol College. This was to be the start of a lifelong friendship. In 1875, whilst working in London, Ruskin introduced Rawnsley to his friend Octavia Hill, a social reformer. Rawnsley and Hill were two of the founders in 1896 of the National Trust, whose origins can be traced back to Ruskin's influence. Ruskin took up the cause of conservation with much passion and vigor, and many of the issues on which he campaigned are still valid today - town and country planning, green belts and smokeless zones. He also campaigned for free schools and libraries.

In 1881 he introduced the ceremony of children dancing round a maypole with ribbons.

He returned to Keswick several more times including 1867 by which time he was a nationally revered and distinguished public figure. His affection for the Lakes was undiminished, for four years later in 1871, when he was 52 he bought Brantwood, near Coniston, when he learnt that W.J. Linton, the wood-engraver and revolutionary, wished to sell it. He was visited at Brantwood by many eminent Victorians, including Charles Darwin, Holman Hunt, Kate Greenaway and Henry Holiday.

In 1877 he inspired William Morris to found the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Ruskin died at Brantwood of influenza on 20 Jan 1900. A year later W.G. Collingwood worked to set up an exhibition, now called the Ruskin Museum, at the back of the Coniston Mechanics Institute, as a place to preserve any Ruskin mementoes that could be found. In 1901 the building was opened by Canon Rawnsley.

The grave is marked with a large carved cross made from green slate from the local quarry at Tilberthwaite. It was designed by W.G. Collingwood, who was an expert on Anglo-Saxon crosses, with symbols depicting important aspects of Ruskin's work and life.

Description: poet, artist, critic, social revolutionary and conservationist. A man of letters with wide influence. Date of birth: 02/08/1819 Date of death: 01/20/1900 Area of notoriety: Literature Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daylight Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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