ECCENTRIC RESIDENT OF DORKING

A memorial stone lies beside the path south of Box Hill Fort and can be easily missed. Inscribed on its face is the epitaph: ‘Major Peter Labelliere, aged 75, an eccentric resident of Dorking was buried here head downwards, 11th July 1800’. The man in question was a British Army major and political agitator, who became a figurehead for those opposed to the American War of Independence. Born in Dublin on 30 May 1725, he moved to Dorking circa 1789 and would often meditate for hours on Box Hill, on one occasion slipping down its steep contours into thick scrub and losing the sight in one eye. His inattention to hygiene earned him the name ‘the walking dung-hill’. His life was marked by his eccentricities, and his last request was to be buried upside down on the slopes of his favourite haunt. The explanation for this is largely unknown, though he is reported to have said that the world was “topsy-turvy” and that it would be righted in the end. However, in his Book of Devotions, he wrote that he wished to emulate St Peter, who was crucified upside down. The book is now held by Dorking Museum. Thousands climbed the hill for his funeral, including his landlady’s children: his final wish was that they would dance on his coffin. During the burial, some of the locals stole the bridge over the Mole below, forcing returning mourners to wade. The memorial is not believed to mark the exact location of his grave, which is thought to be on a steep incline to the west. Eagle-eyed visitors may notice errors on the stone. Surviving manuscripts reveal his name was spelled Labilliere, and he was buried in June, rather than July.