Brookwood Cemetery
 |
|
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Year established | 1852 |
| Location | Woking |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°17′56″N 0°37′55″W / 51.299°N 0.632°WCoordinates: 51°17′56″N 0°37′55″W / 51.299°N 0.632°W |
| Owned by | Erkin Güney (2006-present)[1] Ramadan Güney (1985-2006)[2] was previously London Necropolis Company |
| Size | 500 acres (202 ha) |
| Number of interments | 235,000 |
| Website | Brookwood Cemetery |
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.
Contents |
History [edit]
Brookwood Cemetery was established by the London Necropolis Company in 1849 to house London's deceased, since the capital was finding it difficult to accommodate its increasing population, both of living and dead. The cemetery is said to have been landscaped by architect William Tite, but this is disputed.[3] By 1854, Brookwood was the largest cemetery in the world (it is no longer). Incorporation by Royal Act of Parliament in 1852, Brookwood Cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 7 November 1854 and opened to the public on 13 November 1854. Over 235,000 people have been buried there.
Brookwood originally was accessible by rail from a special station – the London Necropolis railway station – next to Waterloo station in London. Trains ran right into the cemetery on a branch from the South Western Main Line – the junction was situated just to the west of Brookwood station. The original London Necropolis station (near Waterloo) was relocated in 1902, but its successor was demolished after suffering bomb damage during World War II. There were two stations in the cemetery itself: North for non-conformists and South for Anglicans. Their platforms still exist. It is still possible to enter the cemetery directly from Brookwood station.
A military cemetery was added to Brookwood in 1917 and contains some of the dead from World War I and World War II. A military memorial was built in 1958. Memorialised here too is Edward the Martyr,[4] King of England, whose relics are kept nearby in St Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church.
The London Necropolis Company relinquished its interest in the cemetery around 1975, but the cemetery remains privately owned. In 1985, Ramadan Güney acquired Brookwood Cemetery, and was buried there in 2006. The purchase evolved from Güney's role as Chairman of the UK Turkish Islamic Trust, which wanted suitable burial facilities for its members.[2]
Brookwood Military Cemetery and memorials [edit]
Brookwood Military Cemetery covers about 37 acres (15 ha) and is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the United Kingdom.[5] 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. 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.
The United Kingdom 1914-1918 Memorial stands at the north-eastern end of the 1914-1918 Plot.
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.[6]
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.
Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial [edit]
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. Close by are military cemeteries and monuments of the British Commonwealth and other allied nations.[7][8]
Notable graves [edit]
(Arranged in order of date-of-death)
- Dr. Robert Knox (1791–1862), notable anatomist and racial theorist involved with the Burke and Hare murders.[9]
- Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891), atheist and political activist[10]
- Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–1892), Statesman
- Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840–1899), Anglo-Hungarian orientalist[11]
- Alexander William Williamson (1824–1904), chemical theorist, originator of the Williamson ether synthesis, and head of the chemistry department at University College, London
- Ross Lowis Mangles (1833–1905), the first civilian to be awarded the VC[12] and one of 12 holders of the same award who are buried in the cemetery.
- Dugald Drummond (1840–1912), Scottish locomotive engineer
- Allan Octavian Hume (6 June 1829 - 31 July 1912), civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist and horticulturalist in British India.
- Bernhard Wise (1858–1916), Australian politician.
- Edith Thompson (1893–1923), executed in Holloway prison in 1923[13]
- John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), American artist[14]
- Sarah Eleanor Smith (née Pennington) (1861–1931) wife of the Captain of the Titanic Edward J. Smith, buried a few feet from Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon
- Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon (1862–1931) baronet, sportsman and RMS Titanic survivor[15]
- Sir Dorabji Tata (1859–1932), Indian philanthropist
- William Robertson – Field Marshal Sir William Robert Robertson, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, DSO (29 January 1860 – 12 February 1933), Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) from 1916 to 1918 during the First World War.
- Marmaduke Pickthall (1875–1936), Western Islamic Scholar
- Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872–1953), translator of the Quran
- Wing Commander Forest "Tommy" Yeo-Thomas (1902–1964), World War II Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent
- Said Bin Taimur (1910–1972), Sultan of Muscat and Oman 1932–1970
- Rebecca West (1892–1983), novelist, feminist and journalist[16]
- Alfred Bestall (1892–1986), author and illustrator of Rupert Bear
- Naji al-Ali (1937?–1987), Palestinian political cartoonist
- Hamid Mirza (1918–1988), Heir Presumptive of the Qajar Dynasty
- Brigadier J.O.E. Vandeleur (1903–1988), DSO and Bar, ON British Army officer in World War II, served with the [Irish Guards]
- Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912–1993)
- Idries Shah (1924–1996), Sufi Master
- Muhammad al-Badr (1926–1996) was the last King of Yemen.
- Dodi Al-Fayed (1955–1997), film producer, (original burial site, subsequently moved to the Al-Fayed estate in Surrey)
- Ramadan Güney (1932–2006), owner of Brookwood Cemetery since 1985.[2]
- Maqbool Fida Husain (1915–2011), Indian painter.
Location [edit]
Brookwood Cemetery is located on both sides of Cemetery Pales in Woking. The best way to travel to Brookwood Cemetery is by car or railway (Brookwood railway station). The cemetery can also be reached on foot by following the towpath next to the Basingstoke Canal. The Cemetery office is located in Glades House.
References [edit]
- ^ Brookwood Cemetery. "Brookwood Cemetery Rules & Regulations". Retrieved 2011-09-16.
- ^ a b c Brookwood Cemetery. "Ramadan H. Guney: 1932-2006". Retrieved 2011-09-16.
- ^ Clarke, John (2004). London's Necropolis: A Guide to Brookwood Cemetery. Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7509-3513-5.
- ^ "Edward the Martyr". Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ "Commonwealth War Graves Commission Brookwood site". Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ Canadian Encyclopedia Monuments, World Wars I and II
- ^ "Brookwood cemetery, American Battle Monuments Commission site". Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ "Brookwood cemetery, American Battle Monuments Commission video". Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
- ^ Ross L. Mangles VC
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
- ^ TBCS.org.uk
Further reading [edit]
- Clarke, John M. (1995). The Brookwood Necropolis Railway, Locomotion Papers No. 143. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-471-7.
- Clarke, John M. An Introduction to Brookwood Cemetery 2nd Edition
- Clarke, John M. (2004). London's Necropolis: A guide to Brookwood Cemetery. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-3513-5.
Gallery [edit]
-
A very green cemetery
-
Some gravestones
-
World War II memorial to the missing
-
Avenue leading from Brookwood Cemetery
External links [edit]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brookwood Cemetery |
- Brookwood Cemetery – Official website
- Brookwood Cemetery – History (The Brookwood Cemetery Society)
- The Cemetery Railway – History (The Brookwood Cemetery Society)
- Brookwood Cemetery (Useful blog)
- Brookwood Cemetery – Brookwood War Memorial
- Brookwood Military Cemeteries – Images of all sections of the military cemetery and burial plots and memorials. Includes allied nationals, Chelsea Pensioners, QA Nurses as well as German and Italian plots.
- Map sources for Brookwood Cemetery
- Cemetery register: Details • Reports • Plans • Photographs. CWGC.
- The mysterious case of the blonde, the millionaire cemetery owner and the ‘hitman’ Mail on Sunday 6 March 2010
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
