The English cemetery is tucked away in a small, peaceful dell overlooking the sea, on the northern slope of Mount Urgull. A rocky outcrop 120 meters high, about 480 feet, above sea level.
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The English cemetery is tucked away in a small, peaceful dell overlooking the sea, on the northern slope of Mount Urgull. A rocky outcrop 120 meters high, about 480 feet, above sea level.
The origin of this little cemetery is not clear, and although it has been linked to the burning of the city in 1813, as far as we know it contains the graves of several British officers killed in the first Carlist war in the 1830s. The confusion is due to the fact that there are also gravestones of people who were not British soldiers.
Next to the graves, there is also a monument, which adds to the confusion by commemorating the burning of the city and also the British soldiers. One hypothesis is that the present cemetery is located on top of a previous common grave for French soldiers.
These unanswered questions give the site an air of mystery which has given rise to various legends. Of all of them, we'll tell you one of the oldest and best known, which says that in the English cemetery there lies a victim of ill-fated love.
According to this legend, an officer from the British Legion, who was stationed with his regiment in Ategorrieta, in the suburbs of San Sebastian, fell hopelessly in love with his landlady, who was married. His attentions were apparently welcomed, but one night the body of the murdered officer was found next to the Chofre spring and was buried in this cemetery on Mount Urgull.
Years later, in the neighbourhood of Ategorrieta, a blond, freckled child of distinctly English appearance was seen playing with the darker lads, who the malicious gossips, christened "the little Englishman".
