West Ham
Cemetery
West Ham Cemetery opened in 1857
and its 22 acre site is still open for visitors and to provide
burials, including Muslim burials in a designated area. The
cemetery grounds are open daily throughout the year during daylight
hours.
West Ham Cemetery
Cemetery Road
Forest Gate
E7 9DG
Telephone: 020 3373 1193
Fax: 020 8430 4140
Email:
westhamcemetery@newham.gov.uk
Cemetery Officer Mobile telephone: 07800 570
936
Bus Number 308 passes within a quarter of a mile of the entrance
and the nearest train stations are Forest Gate and Wanstead Park
that are approximately 10 minutes walk away.
The Cemetery does not have a car park and visitors are requested to
park in Cemetery Road. Visitors may be permitted, at the discretion
of cemetery staff, to bring their vehicles into the cemetery if a
funeral is not scheduled on the day and suitable spaces are
available to park on the roadway within the cemetery grounds.
Search
www.deceasedonline.com
for digital records and burial register scans for West Ham
Cemetery. All 180,000 records dating back to 1857 are
included.
The cemetery is home to many interesting graves and memorials
providing a fascinating insight into the history of this part of
London since the mid-Victorian era. Some notable burials include
two victims of the Princess Alice pleasure boat which sank in the
Thames at Beckton in 1878 and two firemen killed in 1917 when the
TNT plant of the Burnner Mond chemical works in Silvertown
exploded, a stone memorial was erected in their memory features a
carving of a firemen's helmet.
Arranging for burials or the Interment of Ashes
Whilst most funeral arrangements are made through Undertakers or
Funeral Directors, there is no specific requirement for this and it
is possible for family members, or others, to make the
arrangements.
At West Ham graves are available for traditional burial, but we
also offer graves specifically for the burial of cremated remains
(ashes) in a casket and where a memorial can be erected.
Ashes may also be placed in a remembrance area or in a Rose bed,
where a small commemorative plaque can be placed.
We endeavour to keep our burial fees affordable so that residents
of Newham have the choice of local burial. If the deceased, or the
person arranging the funeral, is not a Newham resident we can still
offer a service, although some additional charges will apply.
The cost of the a traditional burial includes the use of the
Chapel, the provision of a temporary marker and the fixing of a
ground frame around the grave once the ground has settled.
Before a burial can proceed, a formal request has to be made in
writing. We can provide a suitable form. The request has to be
submitted together with the fee and either the burial authorisation
form provided by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages or a
certificate of Cremation provide by a Crematorium for the burial of
ashes.
Graves are sold for fixed periods of time - currently 25 years and
50 years. The purchaser is known as the "reservee" and the rights
in respect of memorials and future interments are available only to
that reservee. At the expiry of the period for which such a right
has been granted, the council may offer the owner of the right an
opportunity to purchase additional years.