TORONTO: A tent-shaped tomb in southwest London that has stood largely inaccessible for more than 70 years reopened last month.
The Burton Mausoleum in Mortlake, the final resting place of Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton and his wife Lady Isabel, reopened in April following a two-year, $334,656 conservation project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and delivered by charity Habitats & Heritage.
Carved from sandstone to resemble a billowing desert tent and adorned with both Islamic and Christian iconography, it is an unlikely monument to one of Victorian Britain’s most controversial figures.
Portrait of Sir Richard Burton and Lady Isabel Burton (Orleans House Gallery)
Burton is celebrated in Britain as a daring adventurer and linguist who spoke 29 languages. But his most famous exploit — disguising himself as a Muslim pilgrim named Mirza Abdullah to perform Hajj in Makkah and Madinah in 1853 — is precisely what drew journalist, historian and Muslim heritage specialist Tharik Hussain to the project as its outreach and education officer.
