Tomb of the English Lady – Il-Qabar tal-Ingliża

The Tomb of the English Lady

Hidden high on the limestone cliffs of Wied Qirda, near Żebbuġ, is one of Malta's most unusual nineteenth-century monuments. Locally known as Il-Qabar tal-Ingliża (The Tomb of the English Lady), the structure appears at first glance to be an ancient rock-cut tomb. Its isolated position and unusual carved façade have also given rise to a long-standing local legend that an English woman died after falling from her horse and was buried here.

Historical research, however, has revealed a very different story. The structure is not an ancient Maltese tomb and there is no documentary evidence that an English woman was buried here. Research by historian Joseph Attard Tabone has established that the rock-cut structure was created in the 1840s by Major Patrick Yule of the Royal Engineers, as a deliberate imitation of the rock-cut tombs of ancient Lycia, in modern-day southern Turkey.

The carved façade of the Tomb of the English Lady, cut into the limestone cliff at Wied Qirda.

The Legend of the English Lady

The name Qabar tal-Ingliża means "Tomb of the English Lady" and comes from a local tradition that an English woman was riding a horse in the valley when the animal startled or threw her, causing her death. According to the story, she had requested that she be buried in a tomb overlooking the place where the accident occurred.

The story was still being repeated locally during the twentieth century, but no documentary evidence has been found to establish that such a woman existed or was buried here. In fact, the historical evidence discovered by Attard Tabone provides a completely different explanation for the structure.

One possible reason the legend became attached to the site may be connected with a carved letter "L" on the structure. Seen from the valley floor, the marking may have been interpreted as a "Ż", leading to an association with the Maltese word żiemel (horse) and helping to reinforce the later story of a woman who had died in a riding accident.

Major Patrick Yule and the Lycian Connection

The real story begins not in Malta, but in Lycia, an ancient region of south-western Anatolia. During the nineteenth century, the British traveller and archaeologist Charles Fellows brought international attention to the remarkable ancient remains around the Xanthos River. Among the discoveries that particularly attracted attention were the distinctive rock-cut tombs of Lycia.

Fellows made an expedition to Lycia in 1841, travelling with the artist George Scharf, who recorded and illustrated many of the ancient monuments. The discoveries generated considerable interest in Britain, particularly at the British Museum, and a second expedition was organised to recover and transport major sculptural remains from Xanthos.

Major Patrick Yule, a Royal Engineer stationed in Malta, became involved in the technical work associated with the Xanthos expedition. He subsequently created a small-scale Maltese counterpart to the Lycian rock-cut tombs he had encountered in Turkey.

The result was the unusual structure now known as the Tomb of the English Lady. Rather than being an ancient burial monument, it was conceived as a commemorative recreation of a Lycian tomb and a personal memorial to Yule's involvement in the Xanthos expedition.

View of the cliff containing the monument from the valley.

The Xanthos Expeditions

The connection with Xanthos is particularly significant. In 1842, British naval vessels and personnel were involved in transporting large quantities of ancient sculpture recovered during the first major British operation at Xanthos. Major Yule provided technical assistance with the difficult work of handling and transporting the heavy archaeological material.

The operation involved substantial engineering equipment, including pontoons, pulleys, ropes, planks and other equipment needed to move heavy stone objects from the Xanthos area to the ships. The recovered antiquities were subsequently transported through Malta before being sent onward to Britain, where many entered the collections of the British Museum.

Yule's connection with this work provides the context for the unusual monument at Wied Qirda. According to Attard Tabone's research, Yule created the structure after returning from Xanthos, reproducing the characteristic form of a Lycian rock-cut tomb in the Maltese limestone.

George Scharf's Visit in 1843

One of the strongest pieces of evidence for the monument's date and purpose comes from the diary of George Scharf. On 12 October 1843, Scharf recorded that he had walked several miles from Valletta to see a tomb cut by Major Yule into a perpendicular rock face, describing it as being made "in Lycian fashion".

This is particularly important because Scharf was not recording a later local tradition. He was describing the monument during the lifetime of its creator, only a short time after it had been made. His contemporary record therefore provides direct evidence that the structure was known at the time as a Lycian-style tomb made by Major Yule.

An original pencil sketch of the monument made by Scharf survives in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London. The surviving drawing provides an early visual record of the structure and further connects the monument with the 1843 visit of Fellows, Scharf and Yule.

When Was It Built?

The available evidence places the construction of the monument between June 1842 and 12 October 1843. Yule returned from the first Xanthos operation in June 1842, while Scharf's diary provides a firm date by which the completed monument was already in existence.

This makes the Tomb of the English Lady a relatively precisely dated nineteenth-century feature rather than an ancient archaeological tomb. Its apparent antiquity comes from the deliberate use of an ancient Lycian architectural model.

The Carved Façade

The monument is cut into the vertical limestone face of the valley and presents a deliberately architectural façade around a small rectangular opening. Its design imitates the appearance of the monumental rock-cut tombs found in Lycia, where burial chambers were carved directly into steep cliffs.

The position is also striking. The opening is several metres above the valley floor and is set close to the edge of the cliff. Its elevated position and the absence of a conventional approach from the valley help explain why it has remained such an enigmatic feature for generations.

Research carried out in 1999 by members of the Grupp Arkeoloġiku Malti included a survey of the structure. During that survey, Joseph Cilia noted that the measurements appeared to use the British foot as the basic unit. This provides further support for the nineteenth- century British origin of the monument.

Major Patrick Yule

Patrick Yule was a Scottish-born officer of the Royal Engineers. He served in Malta from 1841 to 1846 and later continued his military career, eventually retiring from the service as a major general.

His connection with the Tomb of the English Lady is particularly unusual because the monument is not a conventional military work. It represents a personal response to the ancient monuments that Yule had encountered during the British activities at Xanthos.

The structure therefore provides a rare physical link between nineteenth-century Malta, the British military presence on the island, and the contemporary European fascination with the ancient monuments of Lycia.

From Historical Monument to Local Mystery

Despite its nineteenth-century origin, the true story of the structure was forgotten locally. For much of the twentieth century the name Qabar tal-Ingliża survived while the reason for its construction was no longer remembered.

In 1955, former Royal Naval School pupil Mik Fisher noticed the unusual doorway during a visit to the valley. Decades later, in 2002, he wrote to the Times of Malta asking if anyone knew when the doorway had been carved or why it existed. He described it as a rectangular opening cut into the sheer wall of the valley and noted that the mystery had remained with him since his first sight of it.

The question remained unanswered for several more years until Joseph Attard Tabone's archival research connected the monument with Patrick Yule, Charles Fellows, George Scharf and the British expeditions to Xanthos.

A Monument, Not the Grave of an English Lady

The name remains an important part of the local history of Wied Qirda, but the evidence now allows the traditional story to be separated from the documented history.

There is no evidence that an English woman was buried at this location. The contemporary evidence instead identifies the structure as a nineteenth-century creation by Major Patrick Yule, deliberately modelled on the ancient Lycian tombs he had seen during the Xanthos expedition.

Today the monument survives as a remarkable and unusual reminder of Malta's nineteenth-century British period and of the close connections between Malta and the great archaeological expeditions of the era.

The Tomb of the English Lady, viewed from Wied Qirda.

Visiting the Tomb

The monument is situated in the rugged valley of Wied Qirda, in the Żebbuġ area. The structure is cut high into the cliff face and is not readily accessible from the valley floor. Photographs from below provide the safest way to appreciate the façade.

Earlier visitors reported the use of a rope to reach the opening, but the condition and safety of any such climbing arrangement cannot be assumed. The monument should therefore be viewed from the valley unless safe and authorised access is available.