Richmond Cemetery

 

 

LOCATION:

The graveyard is situated between East Sheen Cemetery, Richmond Park and Grove Road. It is in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. Richmond station is the nearest one although it is still quite a walk; there is however a bus that pretty much stops outside it.

 

FIRST OPENED:

It first opened in 1839.

 

FAMOUS RESIDENTS:

Mary Elizabeth Braddon: Novelist

Frances Brown(e): Novelist, journalist and poet. Known as the “blind poetess of Ulster”.

Neil Dennis Bruce – Copp OBE: Well known businessman.

Sir Charles Burt: Solicitor and active member of Richmond’s local government.

Richard Treat: TV producer

Leslie Stuart: Composer

Rev. Montague Summers: Demonologist and ghost story writer.

 

ALSO KNOWN AS:

N/A

 

SIZE & LAYOUT:

The size of the site is not stated on their website (not much is on there to be honest!). the layout of the graveyard, including East Sheen, is almost rectangular shaped.

THE WALKABOUT:

 

Now technically this cemetery and East Sheen cemetery are separate cemeteries but in most cases they are classed as one. Sometimes it can be hard to differentiate between each one so unless you have a map, it may be a bit tough to know which is which.

The first thing you will come across is the newer chapel, strange how a new chapel can actually look so old. Not far past it is the older chapel. It is very small and lovely, such a shame it’s closed. It has a gate going around it, if you go in (which you are not really supposed to!) you will find some graves hiding away. This is only the start of the many graves that have become part of the nature reserve. All around the chapel are very weather beaten graves. Once you go past these graves you step into the oldest part. Through time this has been forgotten about. It has overgrown into a nature reserve, beautiful to look at but at the same time sad as so many graves are now completely covered and forgotten.

The rest of the graveyard looks relatively the same. It actually looks pretty new in places! Obviously this is down to it being more cared for. I found some really stunning graves in this place. There was one that was almost like an altar and had a place for a candle to even sit. Another one was almost the size of a large vault! I believe that one was owned by a very rich family. But the best one I came across was one that belonged to an old man who used to be a taxi driver. This was the first grave I seen that the person had wrote what went on the grave themselves. He obviously knew that he was going to die. I got really sad after seeing this as I thought it was very beautiful, it even had a marble taxi on the top!

The structure of the graveyard is pretty simple; a lot of the graves are laid out in rows, making it a bit easier to get to see everything. The strangest part being, for a graveyard that is relatively big, it feels very small and closed in.

ANY GHOSTS?:

It was hard to not feel something on my walkabout. With so much of it hidden away you almost feel like someone is trying to get your attention. Here are some possible ghosts I have collected.

 

 

I took note of the weather and it was not raining that day. I have no other reason as to why this could have been here. This weird orb seems very out of place.

If I am being honest, I took this because it said James Dean on it! However, in doing that, I seem to have caught what appears to be a face in the bushes. The grave also seems to be glowing!

 

FINAL (RESTING) WORD:

Although it doesn’t have a whole lot to look at, it has a wonderfully weird atmosphere and the nature reserve and the old church are certainly worth checking out.

“Respect those who are not physically here, you can’t see them but they can see you, and disrespect is something they don’t want to see”

RATING: 4/5 – it can be confusing but it is worth it. The history alone is enough to go there for.

LINKS: http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/community_and_living/deaths/burial/cemeteries/cemetery_and_chapel_locations/richmond_cemetery.htm