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Brookwood Cemetery
London Necropolis

1899 cover of a London Necropolis brochure


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By the mid-nineteenth century the volume of London's dead was causing considerable public concern. In 1850, the idea of a great metropolitan cemetery, situated in the suburbs and large enough to contain all of London's dead for ever, was promoted. In 1850 an interested group formed the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company, established by Act of Parliament in June 1852.

London Necropolis postcard

2,000 acres of Woking's common land was purchased from Lord Onslow. Some 500 acres were initially planted out for the Cemetery at the western end of this estate. As Brookwood could be reached cheaply and conveniently only by railway, the London & South Western Railway was engaged to convey coffins and mourners from a private station adjacent to Waterloo down into the Cemetery. At Brookwood there were two stations, one for the Nonconformist sections, the other for the Anglican areas. Brookwood Cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 7th November 1854 and opened to the public on 13th November. Since 1854, some 235,000 people have been buried there.

Railway maps
Necropolis scheme planned a single large cemetery far enough from
the city so as never to be affected by urban growth, to be reached by railway
(Move mouse over to see layout in cemetery)

A private Necropolis terminus was provided just outside Waterloo station, the original station (1854-1902) was located between York Street (now Leake Street) and the Westminster Bridge Road. This station was replaced by a more extensive building in 1902. This was due to the complete reconstruction of Waterloo Station. The original terminus was demolished at about this time.

Tickets for Necropolis Railway
Tickets for Necropolis Railway
First London Terminus
The Westminster Bridge Road entrance to the first London terminus. The ornate gates were originally designed for the Great Exhibition.
1902 Terminus
The Westminster Bridge Road offices of the LNC and the first class entrance to the 1902 terminus.
loading Coffin
Coffins were loaded into segregated carriages for their final journey.
Brookwood Cemetery North station
Brookwood North c1907, North station, serving Roman Catholics, Parsees, Jews and Nonconformist Christians as well as some groups with dedicated plots in the northern cemetery such as actors and Oddfellows, was the first station on the branch.
 
Brookwood Cemetery South station
The southern (cemetery-side) station building, built in 1903.

On 16th April 1941 the station at Waterloo was heavily damaged in an air raid. Much of the building was destroyed and the tracks to the station were rendered unusable. Although some funeral trains continued to run from nearby Waterloo station, the London terminus was never used again. Following the end of the war the London Necropolis Company decided that reopening the London Necropolis Railway was not financially worthwhile, and the surviving part of the station building was sold as office space. This remnant remains intact, and relatively unaltered since its opening.

Listed Monuments
15 Listed Monuments 14 are listed Grade II and one is listed Grade II*

  • Lord Edward Pelham-Clinton (plot 4) (Grade II*) Photo
  • Bent Family Memorial (plot 34) Photo
  • Brookwood Memorial (military section) Photo
  • Columbarium (plot 26) Photo
  • De Morgan Memorial, (plot 24) Photo
  • Drake Family Mausoleum (plot 31) Photo
  • Elaine Falkiner (plot 2) Photo
  • Sir Luke Fildes (plot 36) Photo
  • Freshfield Family Memorial (plot 44) Photo
  • Dr Gottlieb W. Leitner (plot 2) Photo
  • Sir E. W. Moir (plot 4) Photo
  • G. Salviati (plot 25) Photo
  • Henri van Laun (plot 80) Photo
  • John S. Sargent (plot 27) Photo
  • Vickers Family Memorial (plot 31) Photo
  • London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company

    Click to see an enlargementMap of Brookwood Cemetery
    Click on map to see an enlargement

    List of Notable Graves


    Brookwood Military Cemetery and Memorials

    Brookwood Military Cemetery covers about 37 acres (15 ha) and is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the United Kingdom. The land was set aside during World War I to provide a burial site for men and women of Commonwealth and American armed forces who died in the United Kingdom of wounds. It now contains 1,601 Commonwealth burials from World War I and 3,476 from World War II (the latter including 3 unidentified British and 2 unidentified Canadian airmen). Within this, there is a particularly large Canadian section, which includes 43 men who died of wounds following the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. Two dozen Muslim dead were transferred here in 1968 from the Muslim Burial Ground, Horsell Common. The cemetery also has 786 non-Commonwealth war graves, including 28 unidentified French. It also contains Polish, Czech, Belgian and Italian sections.

    1914-1918 Memorial
    1914-1918 Memorial

    The United Kingdom 1914-1918 Memorial stands at the north-eastern end of the 1914-1918 Plot. Created in 2004, it currently commemorates 320 Commonwealth service personnel who died in the First World War in the United Kingdom but have no known grave. (Those whose graves are subsequently discovered become commemorated under the respective cemetery.)

    The Brookwood Memorial stands at the southern end of the Canadian section of the cemetery and commemorates 3,500 Commonwealth men and women who died during the Second World War and have no known grave. This includes commandos killed in the Dieppe and St Nazaire Raids; and Special Operations Executive personnel who died in occupied Europe. The Brookwood Memorial honours 199 Canadian servicemen and women. The memorial was placed within a military cemetery near the theatre of operations.

    Memorial To The Missing 1939 - 1945
    Memorial To The Missing 1939 - 1945

    Russia Memorial

     

     

    Russia Memorial
    The nearby Brookwood (Russia) Memorial was erected in 1983 and commemorates forces of the British Commonwealth who died in Russia in World War I and World War II.

    This Memorial was taken down in 2015

    Click to see an enlargement

     

    Map of Brookwood Military Cemetery

    Click on map to see an enlargement

    List of interred at Brookwood Military Cemetery (CWGC)
    Link CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) website

    Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial

    This 4.5-acre (1.8 ha) site lies to the west of the civilian cemetery. It contains the graves of 468 American military dead and a further 563 with no known grave are commemorated. It is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

    Postcard of Brookwood American Cemetery
    Postcard of Brookwood American Cemetery
    (Move mouse over to see cemetery from Office)
     
    List of American interred and commemorated at Brookwood (ABMC)
    Link ABMC (American Battle Monuments Commission) website

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