West Norwood Cemetery

 

LOCATION:

The graveyard is situated in the London borough of Lambeth. The main entrance can be found on Norwood road, West Norwood, London. There is a second entrance found near the station but that one is usually closed. The closest station is West Norwood.

FIRST OPENED:

The graveyard was founded by its own act of Parliament on 1836. It was consecrated on 7^th December 1837 by the Bishop of Winchester. The first burial was not long after this.

FAMOUS RESIDENTS:

Sir Henry Doulton: English businessman, inventor, manufacturer of pottery and developed the firm of Royal Doulton.

Isabella Beeton: Widely known as “Mrs. Beeton”, a famous cookery writer.

Sir Hiram Maxim: Inventor if the automatic machine gun.

David Roberts: Artist

William Collingwood Smith: Painter

Sister Eliza Roberts: Florence Nightingales principle nurse during the Crimean war.

Patsy Smart: Actress (Upstairs, Downstairs)

Sir Henry Tate: Founder of Tate & Lyle and the Tate gallery.

Charles Spurgeon: Baptist preacher

C.W Alcock: Founder of test cricket and the FA cup.

ALSO KNOWN AS:

It was once known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.

SIZE & LAYOUT:

The site is over 40 acres. The layout of the site is almost square shaped with it pointing up to a hill.

THE WALKABOUT:

As I walk towards the graveyard I am greeted by these massive, Gothic rot iron gates. A lovely site to be welcomed to I must say. A good 90% of this grave yard is very old and historical. No hidden old parts around here. There is a good 40 acres of this place for me to explore.

There is a massive path right in front of you, as you walk down it you have crypts either side of you. The crypts themselves are built in a beautiful Gothic style. Very old and weather beaten, you can just about peek through the windows, but don’t get yourself too excited, all you will see is a massive tomb…and lots of cobwebs! The main entrance part has all the modern lawn and new graves, beautiful to look at and strangely enough, not that new looking. The memorial garden is stunning to look at. It was actually built on the site of the old Episcopal chapel which was levelled out due to substantial damage from a bomb attack in WW2. The catacombs are under this part as well but unfortunately, they are inaccessible to the public. Apparently they open it every now and then though so you would need to keep an eye out for it.

 

As you walk around the path, you also begin walking up a pretty steep hill (if you are pretty unhealthy then this may not be for you!). I eventually came across the old Greek Orthodox Necropolis. It all seems quite cramped in this one little area but amazing all the same. A massive monument at the back really stands out. It actually felt very calm in that part, for what reason I don’t know.

Towards the top of the hill you have the crematorium. Not a whole lot of feature to it, just a basic building really. It does however, hold most of the finest collection of monuments and crypts. They are very grand. From the top of the hill you can see the unconsecrated ground. This is hidden away in all the trees and bushes. I got quite a sad presence walking through it, a feeling of loss and like some kind of wrong had been done. What that wrong was I will never know.

ANY GHOSTS?:

As I was walking around, I constantly felt like I was either being watched or being followed, but not in an evil way, more like a nosey ghost kind of way! (You will probably have to zoom in to see these photos).

 

This one is pretty hard to see and I have speculated it a little bit myself. When I take photos I try and make sure that no one is in shot and I try to remember how the statues where before I took them. The statue I have circled, I am pretty sure that it was facing the other way. I could be wrong but I added it in here anyway.

There appears to be a face in-between the trees. I have not had these ones checked but the outlines stand out enough for me to believe that there is something here.

 

If you look up into the trees, there is the clear outline of a Smokey, faded face.

FINAL (RESTING) WORD:

This is truly a grand and very beautiful graveyard. It is about the only one in London that has retained its history. If you are ever in this area then I highly suggest that you check this one out. You can be there all day and still not be bored.

“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: 5/5 – a stunning place and very well preserved! Definitely one to go and check out.

LINKS: http://www.westnorwoodcemetery.com/

 

Beckenham Crematorium & Graveyard

LOCATION:

The graveyard is situated in the London borough of Bromley. The main entrance can be found along Elmers End Road, Beckenham. There is also a back entrance found at Harrington Road tram stop. It is also found in between South Norwood Country Park and Birbeck.

FIRST OPENED:

The graveyard itself opened in 1876 (although there is an argument that it was actually opened in 1880), the crematorium opened its doors in 1956.

FAMOUS RESIDENTS:

Frederick Wolseley: Invented and developed the first commercially used sheep shearing machinery

William Walker: A famous British diver

WG Grace: Famous English Amateur cricketer

Frank Bourne: British soldier

Thomas Crapper: Plumber, founded the Thomas Crapper & Co in London

George Evans (VC): An English recipient of the Victoria cross

Josiah Stamp: The 1^st Baron Stamp. He was a civil servant, industrialist, economist, statistician, writer and banker. He was also the director of the bank of England and chairman of London, Midland and Scotland railway.

ALSO KNOWN AS:

The park was initially known as Crystal Palace District Cemetery. It is sometimes still known as Elmers End Cemetery (due to how close the station is to it).

SIZE & LAYOUT:

There is over 12 hectares of land. The layout is quite simple; it is almost a rectangle shape.

THE WALKABOUT:

When I first go into a graveyard I like to start off in the oldest part if possible as this is what interests me the most. Luckily this one has their oldest part near the front entrance. They have lots of little alcoves and hidden pathways for me to explore. The sheer amount of bushes and trees for a start make you feel very much closed in. I say this all the time, but it’s a shame to see so many unkempt graves, no one should be forgotten. Although this adds to the look and feel of the place, it always makes me feel sad.

A lot of the gravestones tend to have statues on them (usually of angels). In the winter these look amazing, if not slightly serene and creepy. I found a lot of very interesting backgrounds such as a man who died trying to save his child or the old couple who died within hours of each other (I will not name names out of respect). You have a constant feeling of someone watching you, but it doesn’t scare me at all, I feel like I’m being watched over rather than watched,

The newer part, where the church and the crematorium is, has so much to see, but you have to be careful walking around as there are always services going on. I got chased out last time because they thought I was trying to be disruptive! The church was built just before the cemetery opened. It has a beautiful Gothic look to it and it is covered in colourful ivy.

ANY GHOSTS?:

As I walked around I could always feel several presences. No bad ones this time. Last time I was here I walked past a certain part and got a bad feeling, so I took a photograph. The picture had a very nasty looking sneering face in it, unfortunately, my computer crashed and I lost the photo. But here are some others I found. Feel free to make a judgement, I have had them looked over and they have been proved as real and nothing could be found otherwise to what they could have been:

This one kind of looks like a monk

 

It was snowing this day, but this was not a piece of snow.
 

FINAL (RESTING) WORD:

Not only is this my local graveyard but possibly my favourite. I prefer to visit it in the winter and I suggest that all of you do too! Check out the old part first as you will feel like you are going on an adventure! Just remember to remain respectful!! As I always say:

“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 too see”

RATING: 4/5 – My local and my favorite, well worth a walk around, especially in the autumn.
 

LINKS: http://www.beckenhamcrematorium.co.uk/