City of London Cemetery and Crematorium

The Main Gate and Sign

The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a cemetery and crematorium in the north east of London. It is the largest such municipal facility in the UK and probably in Europe^[1] .
It is owned and operated by the City of London Corporation.

Location

The cemetery is located on the east side of Aldersbrook Road, in Manor Park, in the London Borough of Newham, near Epping Forest. It has two entrances, the Main Gate, which is located close the junction of Forest Drive and the Aldersbrook Road. There is a small gate on the junction with Rabbits Road, called the South Gate.

History

In 1849 William J. Haywood, Chief Engineer of the City of London Commissioners of Sewers, reported on the condition of the city's churchyards and their health risks. The Commissioners were responsible for public hygiene and sanitation and were in effect also the burial board for the City of London, due to an Act of Parliament in 1852. The commisionners directed that a cemetery be built for the city's 106 parishes, to replace intramural interment (burial within the confines of a parish). The task was taken up by William Haywood and Dr John Simon.

In 1853 this led to the purchase of land owned by Lord Wellesley. The 200 acres (0.81 km²) of land suited the construction of the cemetery because it was accessible (only 7 miles (11 km) to the centre of the City of London), had attractive planting and porous, gravelly, well drained soil. This former farm land was sold to the Corporation for £30,721 and the cemetery was founded in 1854. It was laid out in 1855 by William Haywood, who designated 89 acres (360,000 m²) for burial but also reserved land for plots sold in perpetuity, buildings, landscaping and roads. He was helped by landscape gardener Robert Davidson^[2]. In selecting planting, Haywood and Simon were guided by John Claudius Loudon's On the Laying Out, Planting, and Managing of Cemeteries (1843). The total cost is estimated at over £45,000, which is approximately £26,000 more than originally planned.

The first interment was on 24 June 1856, although the cemetery was not consecrated until November 1857, due to legal difficulties (which were solved in the Burial Acts Amendment Bill). It is estimated that in 1858 around 2,700 interments took place and more than 500,000 since then.

Facilities

The cemetery has many different burial sites. It also has a number of chapels. At the beginning of the 20th century a crematorium was built (designed by D.J. Ross), at a cost of around £7,000 and was opened on October 25, 1904 in the presence of Sir Henry Thompson. Cremations were taking place from about a year later. There are now two crematoria, designated the Old and the New. The Old Crematorium is no longer in use as a crematorium but is still used as a chapel. The New Crematorium is a modern symmetrical building (1971, designed by E.G. Chandler) containing two separate crematoria (each having two cremators). There is also a Chapel of Remembrance and a Columbarium. The cemetery is one of only a few cemeteries in London with catacombs. This however has proven to be an impopular method of burial, part of the unused catacombs have now been converted into columbarium space.

In 1937 a Garden of Rest was constructed, followed by a series of Memorial Gardens (there are an estimated 20,000 rose bushes in this area alone).

Today

The cemetery and crematorium are still open, although the cemetery is reaching capacity. There are now in excess of 150,000 gravesites and new burials have begun to be placed atop older burials, leaving deep interments undisturbed.^[3]. This is done very sensitively, involving experts and the family of the deceased (if known).

Today, the Cemetery and Crematorium are non-denominational, but originally there was an Anglican chapel, with a 61 ft (19 m) spire and an unusual round Dissenter's chapel (designed by William Haywood).

Historical Importance

It is designated Grade II* on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The cemetery is also interesting because it has been in continuous use since its opening. The social attitude towards the afterlife is reflected in the way the cemetery is laid out, ranging from Victorian to contemporary. Many of the churches that were demolished in London had their dead reinterred in the City of London Cemetery (see Memorials section).

Reburial and memorials

The Union of Benefices Act 1860 allowed for the demolition of many unused City churches, and for the reinterment of the remains in the City of London Cemetery. The cemetery also contains inhumations from London churches destroyed during the Blitz.

• St Benet Gracechurch (1865)
• All Hallows Staining (1870)
• St Andrew and St Sepulchre (1871), this grand monument was designed by Haywood
• St Mary Somerset (1871)
• Holy Trinity the Less (1872)
• St Mildred, Poultry, the church was demolished in 1872, the parish was joined with St Olave
• St James Duke's Place (1874)
• St Martin Outwich (1874)
• St Antholin, Watling Street (1875)
• All Hallows Bread Street (1878)
• St Dionis Backchurch (1878)
• St Matthew Friday Street (1884)
• St Olave (1887)
• St Helen's Bishopsgate (1892)
• St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street, destroyed by a fire in 1886 and demolished in 1893
• St Mary Woolnoth (between 1897–1900), the contents of the crypt were moved here because of the construction of the Bank Station under the church.
• St Peter le Poer, the church was demolished in 1907, the parish was joined with St Michael, Cornhill
• St Alphage London Wall (1924)
• St Katherine Coleman (1925)
• All Hallows Lombard Street (1939)
• Holy Trinity, Minories (1940)
• St Alban, Wood Street (1940)
• St Mary Aldermanbury (1940), the church was rebuilt in Fulton, Missouri, USoA, in 1966
• St Botolph's Aldgate, the remains of around 2,500 persons were moved here when the north part of the churchyard was cleared in 1965
• St Michael Queenhithe, the church was demolished in 1876, reinterment took place in 1969
• St Michael, Cornhill, reinterment from the churchyard (date unknown)

Some churches were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and never rebuilt due to the Rebuilding Act. Many were joined with other parishes. Their churchyards were either left, moved to a new location or to this cemetery (sometimes at a later date). Among these were:

• St John the Evangelist, Watling Street, the churchyard was cleared in 1954
• St John Zachary
• St Leonard, Eastcheap, the churchyard on Fish Street Hill was cleared in 1882
• St Martin Pomary
• St Martin Vintry
• St Mary Colechurch
• St Mary Woolchurch Haw, the churchyard was cleared in 1892
• St Peter, Paul's Wharf

And of course:

• French Hospital memorial

Notable burials

• Michael Barrett, a Fenian
• Robert Bentley and Charles Tucker, policemen victims of the Battle of Stepney
• George Leslie Drewry VC, British sailor in the Royal Navy Reserve
• Catherine Eddowes and Mary Ann Nichols; victims of Jack the Ripper
• George William Foote, a secularist and journal editor
• Elwyn Jones, a British barrister and Labour politician
• Anna Neagle, a popular English stage and motion picture actress and singer and her husband Herbert Wilcox a British film director and producer.
• James Roll, Lord Mayor of London
• John Joseph Sims VC, British foot Soldier
• Percy Thompson, murder victim, see Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters

People reputed to have been reinterred here.

• Claude Duval (1643–1670), highwayman, although he was originally buried in St Paul's, Covent Garden
• Robert Hooke (1635–1703), scientist, although he was originally buried in St Helen's Bishopsgate

Other last resting places.

• Bobby Moore, footballer, was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium, but his ashes rest in the Garden of Remembrance.
• Veronica Foley, aka Ronnie, Stage and Television actress & drama teacher, from the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

Gallery

• 

  Anglican Chapel

• 

  Dissenters Chapel

• 

  Colombarium and Catacombs

• 

  The Old Crematorium

• 

  View down Central Avenue

• 

  View of new graves

• 

  The Vigiland Memorial

• 

  Hindu monument

Visiting

The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a beautiful place maintained to a very high standard, even winning awards (Green Flag Award.^[4]) . It is well worth a visit. There is also a tea room.

Transport

There are a number of ways to get to the cemetery using public transport.

• British Rail has two stations in the vicinity: Manor Park and Ilford.
• The London Underground: East Ham
• The London Overground: Woodgrange Park
• Bus: 25, 86 and 101 (there is a bus stop at the main gate).

References

1. ^ City of London Cemetery and Crematorium (LB Newham Archives) accessed 11 January 2009
2. ^ Web booklet on Cemetries by English Heritage (2003)
3. ^ Walker, Blair S. (1 December 2009), "Stacking Up the Departed in London", AARP Bulletin, In the News (AARP Publications) 50 (10): 8, ISSN 1044-1123, archived from the original on 18 December 2009, http://www.webcitation.org/5m7K8yIJ9, retrieved 18 December 2009 
4. ^ City of London Cemetery and Crematorium (Green Flag Award winners) accessed 11 January 2009

Further reading

• Beach, Darren, London's Cemeteries, Metro Guides, 2006.
• Meller, Hugh & Brian Parsons, London Cemeteries: an illustrated guide and gazetteer, The History Press, 2008.
• Francis, Doris with Leonie Kellaher and Georgina Neophytou, The Secret Cemetery, Berg Publishers, 2005

External links

• Cemetery and Crematorium page

Coordinates: 51°33′36″N 0°02′53″E / 51.560°N 0.048°E / 51.560; 0.048