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 Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The Church of St Edward the Martyr with its community of Greek Orthodox monks is located in the cemetery grounds.

Brookwood Cemetery was conceived by the London Necropolis Company (LNC) in 1849 to house London's deceased, at a time when the capital was finding it difficult to accommodate its increasing population, both living and dead. The cemetery is said to have been landscaped by architect William Tite, but this is disputed. Brookwood Cemetery's initial owner was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1852, and the cemetery was consecrated by Charles Sumner, Bishop of Winchester, on 7 November 1854 (apart from its northern section, reserved for Nonconformists). It was opened to the public on 13 November 1854 when the first burials took place. It was the largest cemetery in the world in 1854, but has since lost that distinction. In 1857 actor John W. Anson acquired 1 acre (4,000 m2) of land there, the Actors' Acre, for the 'Dramatic, Equestrian and Musical Sick Fund Association' as a burial place for actors and their relatives. In 1858 the London Necropolis Company sold 64 acres (26 ha) of the extra land to the government for the building of Woking Convict Invalid Prison.

Brookwood originally was accessible by rail from a special station – the London Necropolis railway station – next to Waterloo station in Central London. Trains had passenger carriages reserved for different classes and other carriages for coffins (also for different classes), and ran into the cemetery on a dedicated branch from the adjoining South West Main Line – there was a junction just to the west of Brookwood station. From there, passengers and coffins were transported by horse-drawn vehicles. The original London Necropolis station was relocated in 1902 but its successor was demolished after suffering bomb damage during World War II. Return tickets were issued for mourners and single tickets for the dead. There were two stations in the cemetery: North for non-conformists and South for Anglicans. Their platforms still exist along the path called Railway Avenue. For visitors wishing to use the South West Main Line, Brookwood station has provided direct access since June 1864. A very short piece of commemorative track, with signpost and plaque, purposefully gives way to a grass field and recollects the old final stage of the journey of the deceased. It was the cholera epidemic of 1848 that led two industrialists to develop this high burial site. It was at first a controversial project. The Bishop of London condemned the "offensive" despatch of first-, second- and third-class corpses in the same carriages, so this had to be modified.

A first class funeral allowed buyers to select the grave site of their choice anywhere in the cemetery. The LNC charged extra for burials in some designated special sites. At the time of opening prices began at £2 10s (about £240 in 2025 terms) for a basic 9-by-4-foot (2.7 m × 1.2 m) with no special coffin specifications. It was expected by the LNC that those using first class graves would erect a permanent memorial of some kind in due course following the funeral. Second class funerals cost £1 (about £96 in 2025 terms) and allowed some control over the burial location. The right to erect a permanent memorial cost an additional 10 shillings (about £48 in 2025 terms); if a permanent memorial was not erected the LNC reserved the right to re-use the grave in future. Third class funerals were reserved for pauper funerals; those buried at parish expense in the sec

Cemetery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).