Since 1856, the
City of London Cemetery and Crematorium has
been opening its ornate wrought iron gates to the funeral
parties of people from all backgrounds, who in their own way
have all played a part in the capital's vibrant history.
The cemetery was opened as a response to the increasing demand on
churchyards in the centre of London. Parishes in the City of London
can trace the heritage of their dead back to the middle ages. St
Paul's Cathedral even has the remains of Roman burials within its
boundaries.
By the 1830s church cemeteries were no longer able to cope with
the 40,000 corpses directed to them each year. There are stories
that graveyards were literally overflowing with human remains,
which had been dug up and scattered by dogs, which gnawed on the
bones of the dead. St Andrew's in Holborn became a public scandal
when its land rose to 15ft above street level as layers of fresh
bodies were added each day. The threat to hygiene was obvious and
it was the job of the Commissioners of Sewers to safeguard public
health.
In 1854, two years before it was opened for its first intake, a
plot of land in what was then known as Little Ilford (now
Aldersbrook Road, Manor Park) was secured for a new municipal
cemetery. The site covers 200 acres and is the largest municipal
cemetery and crematorium in Europe. To date, it has provided more
than half a million burials and nowadays conducts more than 5,000
funerals per year.
Times have changed since the cemetery was first established.
Alongside its original chapels, which include the 61ft Anglican
Chapel and the unusual round Dissenter's Chapel, both of which are
now non-denominational buildings, are two crematoriums. The first
was built in 1904 and in its first year only conducted nine
cremations. However, as cremations increased a further modern
crematorium had to be built to meet demand.
In 1974 the modern building was opened and the original chapel
decommissioned. Keeping up with burial and cremation trends is an
important part of the cemetery's work and the memorial garden was
developed to accommodate families' wishes to commemorate cremated
relatives.
In the centre of the cemetery one of its more unusual buildings,
the catacombs, has also been adapted to include a columbarium,
where urns of ashes can be kept. Built into the bank side of a
drained lake, the catacombs also contain family vaults.
Burial may seem straightforward, but new ways of thinking and
modern perspectives can change the way people choose to be
interred. Although traditional lawn graves are still very much part
of modern practices, new innovations at the cemetery include a
wooded burial area. In a patch of woodland specially designated for
natural burials, graves are marked with wooden posts which are
eventually removed as the cardboard coffins and their owners return
to the earth.
It is often hard for friends and relatives to accept that life
goes on after the loss of a loved one, but ironically the cemetery
is a thriving home for wildlife. Squirrels, terrapins, frogs, bats,
hedgehogs and moles take advantage of the serene natural habitat on
offer and share the environment with a myriad of other birds,
insects and small animals.
Conservation and heritage is something that doesn't just extend to
the wild side of the cemetery either. In recent years concerns
about the cemetery reaching capacity have led to the introduction
of an innovative scheme which will free up space for more graves
while preserving the memory and headstones of those whose graves
are no longer tended.
In the heritage area of the cemetery, yellow warning labels mark
out some of the ornate Victorian headstones that are to be
reclaimed. The labels give any existing family the chance to stake
their claim on the grave. It is intended that any gravestones left
unclaimed will be restored and offered to new families, who will be
able to add names to the stone. The memorial to the original owner
will remain and be brought into the care of the new owners.
The cemetery is a place where opposites exist in unusual harmony.
Natural beauty complements the artifice of sculpted angels,
Victorian grandeur sits side-by-side with humble woodland burials
and life thrives around the monuments we erect to death as it
simply gets on with business.
The
City of London Cemetery and Crematorium
adjoins Wanstead Flats which is part of Epping Forest. For
people travelling by rail, the main entrance in Aldersbrook Road
is appoximately five minutes walk from Manor Park Station (on
the Liverpool Street Line). |