Venture up the steps at the rear of St Peter’s Church to find the grave of Mary Shelley, the famous author of Frankenstein and widow of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The story of Mary Shelley and her family

Though Mary never lived in Bournemouth, it was her wish to be buried here. Investigation of the inscriptions on the grave will tell you that she is not the only interesting person laid to rest beneath the rather austere looking tomb. Buried with her are her parents, her son and his wife. 

Mary’s mother, the radical feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, died eleven days after her daughter’s birth (1797). Her father, the political philosopher and anarchist William Godwin brought her up. At the age of sixteen Mary scandalously ran off with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1814).

The couple married and had several children but only one child survived. Percy Florence Shelley was three when his father drowned while sailing in Italy (1822).

After inheriting the title 3rd Baronet of Castle Goring from his paternal grandfather (1844), Percy Florence created a large Italian style house on Boscombe cliffs where his wife and mother could live in comfort.

Mary visited Bournemouth while the house was being built but died, aged 53, before it was completed (1851). Also in the grave are ashes from the heart of her husband, given to Mary following his cremation on an Italian beach.

St Peter's Church

If you continue up the slope from the Shelley family grave you can find the grave of Lewis Tregonwell who built Bournemouth’s first house.

While at St Peter’s, step inside to admire the magnificent Gothic Revival interior with impressive stained glass and frescoes. Built in the mid nineteenth century, the church has a 62 metre spire.

How to get here

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