Wednesday 4 July 2007
Brookwood Cemetery by Rosemary Hunter
Rosemary Hunter (left) set the scene for the mid-nineteenth century when the volume of London's dead was causing considerable public concern because of the overcrowding of London churches grave yards which tended to be small and the crypts which were full and overflowing.
Indeed the London sewers she explained had not been updated and the stink from rubbish, sewage and the dead just passed into the Thames and even the Houses of Parliament had to be screened from the smell or meetings moved to more remote premises away from the Thames.
So in 1850’s, 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. An interested group formed "The London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company"; this was supported by an Act of Parliament.
After searching around the then London boundaries and far enough away to find land at a low cost 2,000 acres of Woking's farm land not being used was purchased from Lord Onslow. About 500 acres were initially planted out for the Cemetery at the western end of his estate. As Brookwood could be reached cheaply and conveniently by railway, the Railway company was engaged to transport coffins and mourners from a private station adjacent to Waterloo down into the Cemetery, the funeral trains stopped running after the London terminus was bombed in April 1941, as Rosemary said the promise of rebuilding the Waterloo end never materialised after the war, but she thought the platform remains still.
At Brookwood there were two stations one for the Nonconformist sections and later other religions, the other for the Anglican areas. Brookwood Cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester in 1854.
Brookwood was the largest Cemetery in the world at that time, today this is no longer true, but it remains the largest Cemetery in Western Europe, with about a quarter of a million buried there.
As an aside Rosemary mentioned that the rest of the 2,000 acres not used now represented the town of Woking and whether you loved or hated the town, determined whether you thought highly or otherwise of the Cemetery authority's decision made many years earlier.
Rosemary then presented a whole variety of slides showing the various areas of this vast cemetery, she started with a dilapidated entrance sign much in state of neglect and during the course showed slides of neglect and the other end of the extreme of well maintained and pristine sections, particularly those with military origins.
She showed us examples of the magnificent avenues of redwood cedars and monkey puzzle trees, but alas mentioned the grand design never reached its full potential and only a few avenues were completed before the monies ran out. This bold imaginative planting has now matured and the Cemetery deserves to be recognised as a site of national historical importance.
Also she told us that plots were reserved for use by parishes (e.g.: St Anne's Soho), or by various guilds and organisations such as the Oddfellows' Society. Purchasers of space had complete freedom over the site and position of their grave, provided they could afford the plot.
The military cemeteries, separately administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, were first used in 1917. They were extended substantially during and after the Second World War and includes the large USA site and many nations that took part in the conflict are there all with details of the national identities and religious beliefs, indeed one of the largest areas is Muslim a point worth considering in this age of internal conflict.
The Glades of Remembrance, an area set aside for the reception of cremated remains, was opened in 1950. The Necropolis Company eventually relinquished its interest in the Cemetery (c.1970), and although the grounds have changed hands several times since, it remains privately owned but the future is not clear. The St Edward Brotherhood moved into the site of the former Anglican chapels in 1979 (below). This monastic community serves the Church and shrine of St Edward the Martyr and tends a small Orthodox Christian cemetery.
St Edward was the son of Edgar, when he became king, Edward was supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but King Edgar's second wife, wished her son Ethelred to be king. (Ethelred is known in history as Ethelred the Unready") Edward was murdered near the site of Corfe Castle, Dorset, almost certainly the victim of his stepmother's intrigues.
Edward's initial burial was hurried. Soon miraculous cures were attributed to Edward by visitors to the site of his grave. His body was moved to Shaftesbury Abbey, the relics were enshrined, he was officially canonised in 1008. In 1930’s a crude casket was unearthed during an archaeological investigation of the site. The remains were studied and pronounced consistent with the injuries received by St Edward. Through the progress of time these remains are now held at Brookwood in custody of the Monks and Rosemary said at certain times of the year the casket can be seen, but she has never seen the bones.
She mentioned the problem of wanton vandalism and how that has not improved the dereliction, and gave a humorous account of drunken revellers and drug addicts being confronted in the dark at night by the monks dressed in their normal garb of black robes and long beards coming silently behind the intruders who thought their last days had come and fled for their lives!
Brookwood is vast - almost rural - and is quite unlike any of the other London cemeteries it was designed to surpass and replace.
This was a most unique presentation, unlike any our Club has enjoyed and Rosemary must be congratulated in making a very or could be gruesome subject a matter of historical interest and completed some of our missing local history. Pat Hunt thanked our speaker for a most interesting talk and the range of her slides and we all supported his comments with our traditional method of thanks.
Note;- Unfortunately the Brookwood Cemetery Ltd have regulations that prohibit inclusion of any photographs of their property on this site.
"The Club accepts no responsibility for any statement, views, opinions of whatsoever nature expressed or given above which is just a summary of a talk given to the Club and does not necessarily reflect those of the Club or its members."
