Lots
has been written on the so-called Magnificent Seven, a set of seven
Victorian garden cemeteries in London, all opened in the mid-19th
century after the Burials Act prevented burials in the centre of town
any more. I’m not going to go into the history here, as others can
write about it better than me, and indeed have published books on the
topic.
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| Highgate and Nunhead Cemetery charges, Illustrated London News, October 1842 |
Each
of the cemeteries is open to the public, and each is looked after by
a group of Friends who maintain (in some cases along with the
cemetery owner, if different) the cemetery, in various states of
neatness. Personally I prefer the wilder ones, but everyone likes
something a bit different.
In
the past few years I’ve visited and revisited all seven of them at
various times of the year. I’ll be adding the photos in individual
blog posts in the coming months, but for now here’s some thoughts
on each of them.
Abney
Park Cemetery
Abney
Park Cemetery, in north-east London, is one of the more overgrown
examples of a garden cemetery. In the middle of it, the ruined
non-denominational chapel is still standing. When it was planned out,
it was planted as an arboretum, and many of the original plants still
exist within what is now a Local Nature Reserve. It is wonderfully
overgrown, and despite being near a busy shopping street it has never
been very busy when I’ve visited (or maybe that’s just me!).
Great to visit in the spring when the flowers are out.
Abney
Park was the leading cemetery for Dissenters (especially Protestants
who were not part of the Church of England – Methodists, Baptists
etc). Burials here include William and Catherine Booth, who founded
the Salvation Army
Brompton
Cemetery
Managed
by The Royal Parks, this is a very well cared for cemetery, with mown
grass and flat paths. It’s in a busy area, just round the back of
Earls Court, and it’s also a cut-through for cyclists and joggers
and has an area for dog-walkers, so if you’re looking for peace and
quiet then this is not the place for it.
There
are a wide selection of lovely memorials here, and the chapel and
colonnade, based on the floorplan of the basilica St Peters in Rome,
is worth seeing. It’s featured in a number of films, so will
probably be rather familiar. Given the location of the cemetery,
there are a number of notable burials here, including Emmeline
Pankhurst, although her gravestone is not easy to pick out among the
other, more ostentatious, memorials along the central avenue.
Highgate
Cemetery
The
most famous of the big 7, and also the most visited. It’s also the
only one which charges an admission fee. I have mixed feelings about
this; yes, money is needed to maintain it, but does that mean it
should be treated as a tourist attraction rather than a burial
ground? Burials are still carried out here, so it’s not the same as
visiting an ancient tomb in Egypt, for example. Entry to the older,
Western side, is on tours only which can get quite busy and sell out
on hot summer days. Depending on your guide, you’ll see different
parts of the cemetery, but they will always include the Egyptian
Avenue and Cedar of Lebanon.
The
Eastern cemetery can be visited without a tour, although there is an
admission charge. The most popular destination is of course Karl
Marx, but head away from this and you’ll find all sorts of gems
hidden among the trees and shrubs. It’s also a lot quieter away
from the main paths!
Kensal
Green Cemetery
This
is quite possibly my favourite of all the cemeteries, in terms of the
memorials here. It combines areas of wildness (but not too many) with
quite the most splendid avenue of memorials and mausoleums with
Egyptian, Classical and Indian themes and decoration, as well as the
usual angels and urns. Look out for the rather bonkers tomb build for
the circus performer Andrew Ducrow – the epitaph says it was
designed “by genius for the reception of its own remains”.
Regular
tours and an annual open day are organised by the Friends (there is a
small charge for the tours, but they include a cup of tea and biscuit
at the end!). They are well worth attending – not only will you
find out more about the cemetery and its inhabitants, but you’ll
also get to see the catacombs under the Dissenters’ Chapel. I can’t
say what they’re like – when I went tours went to the catacombs
under the Anglican Chapel, but that is now closed for restoration.
Nunhead
Cemetery
One
of two of the Magnificent Seven located south of the river (the other
is West Norwood), Nunhead is little known and little visited compared
to its more famous siblings Highgate and Kensal Green. It has
recently undergone renovation work to some of the memorials and the
Anglican chapel, but large areas of the cemetery are wonderfully
quiet and overgrown, and it is a Local Nature Reserve.
There
are very few large mausoleums or memorials here compared to some of
the cemeteries, but worth seeing is the obelisk, the “Scottish
Political Martyrs Memorial” dedicated to 3 men who were transported
to Australia in the late 18th
century. The views from the cemetery over to the City of London are
well worth seeking out.
Tower
Hamlets Cemetery Park
The
most overgrown of all seven cemeteries, this place is wonderful. Come
in April/May when the bluebells are out, and the woods are coming
back to life. Being situated in the poorer part of London there are
very few large memorials to speak of, and most of these take the form
of obelisks rather than highly decorated Classical or Gothic
mausoleums. Instead there are a lot of anchors on graves, a reminder
that many of those buried here would have worked at the docks or on
ships.
Not
only is it a Local Nature Reserve, it’s also a Site of Metropolitan
Importance for Nature Conservation. The flowers are amazing, the
sound of birdsong is constant, and when both a young fox and me tried
to use the same path I don’t know which of us got the bigger
fright! Come for the wildlife as much as the history, and you’ll
love it as much as I do. It’s used as a cut-through for cyclists
and shoppers, but get off the main paths and you can wander for ages
without seeing anyone else.
West
Norwood Cemetery
This
cemetery is still in use, as part of it contains the crematorium
which still operates. Some areas of the cemetery are kept maintained,
with neat paths and mown lawns, while the central part is much more
overgrown and wild. There is a patch near the crematorium which
contains a wonderful selection of Gothic Revival mausoleums,
including the terracotta mausoleum of Henry Doulton. There’s still
a feeling of discovery if you head off the main paths, with overgrown
areas hiding a wonderful selection of ivy covered tombstones. Also
worth a visit is the Greek Orthodox area, fenced off from the main
cemetery and full of wonderfully decorated mausoleums.
Before
the Victorian Period (or earlier), the site was part of the Great
North Wood (hence Norwood), and some of the trees here a definitely
older than the cemetery itself. There are also ancient woodland
indicator plants such as primroses, bluebells and celandine, which
are in bloom every spring.
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