West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England that spans 40 acres (16 hectares) and contains more than 165,000 burials.
It is a site of major historical, architectural, and environmental interest. Developed during the Victorian era, the cemetery has many Gothic style mausoleums and a stunning rose garden. West Norwood Cemetery was the first in London designed in the Gothic style, rather than classical.
Kensal Green Cemetery was created in response to a lack of space in existing cemeteries and churchyards. Between 1800 and 1850, London’s population swelled from 1 million to more than 2.3 million. Illness under these crowded conditions led to epidemics of typhus, influenza, scarlet fever, measles, diphtheria, cholera, and smallpox.
Traditionally, London burials had taken place inside of church buildings but as time went on, the church’s floors and walls were filled with bodies. To create more space, side chapels were added with more burial crypts. Eventually, the side chapels were also filled to capacity so burials were made outdoors in the churchyards.
Then as churchyards also became overcrowded, bodies were buried shoulder to shoulder or even stacked on top of one another. Coffins were often absent among the poor. Decaying matter leached into London’s water supply, which worsened epidemic conditions.
Rural Cemeteries
Rural cemeteries became the solution for the health crisis. West Norwood Cemetery was founded by an Act of Parliament of 1836 as a solution for London's over-full church burial yards. Burials began in 1837.
The cemetery was designed by English architect Sir William Tite.[1] A crematorium was added to the cemetery in 1915.
At first glance, the West Norwood Cemetery appears to be a magnificent walled park with huge mausoleums and traditional lawn gravesites. As the world’s first cemetery to be designed in the Gothic Revival Style, the English Heritage has placed this cemetery on its National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Sonia Winifred, Lambeth Council Cabinet Member wrote, “It’s more than just a cemetery, it’s a place to learn, relax, contemplate life and get some peace and quiet in the middle of our great city.”[2]
On the cemetery grounds, robins flit between branches, squirrels dash up tree trunks, and fox race to hide beneath the bushes.
But under the ground, West Norwood takes on an entirely different atmosphere. By 1837, London’s parish churchyards were being cleared of excess human remains and moldering coffins that were fostering disease. The solution was to create catacombs – an eerie maze of tunnels beneath the earth with the capacity for 3500 coffins to be stacked on shelves.
The Magnificent Seven
Alexander Berens Mausoleum. West Norwood Cemetery
The Magnificent Seven is the nickname for seven huge cemeteries that surround London:
Each is a unique masterpiece of park-like greenspace. The 2nd oldest of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries is West Norwood Cemetery.
Grave robbers
High railings and walls surround West Norwood Cemetery to dispel fears of body snatchers. The entrance on Norwood High Street which is close to West Norwood railway station, is kept locked.
Grave robbers were a rampant problem in Victorian-era cemeteries.[3] They stole everything from rings and necklaces to the bodies themselves.
“Rest in Peace” is a common epitaph on older gravestones but this wasn’t just a trite phrase in the 1800s. Family members were genuinely concerned about their loved ones’ bodies resting in peace.
So families often went to great lengths to protect their loved one’s remains after burial. Victorian families who could afford it bought metal caskets and erected iron fences around individual gravesites.
Notable burials
Gravestone of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, West Norwood CemeterySir Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840 – 1916) British inventor with patents for smokelss gun powder, hair-curling irons, a mousetrap, steam pumps, and the first automatic machine gun
Sir Henry Tate (1819-1899), sugar magnate and philanthropist who founded the Tate Gallery in London
Dr. William Marsden(1796 - 1867), founder of the Royal Free Hospital and The Royal Marsden Hospital
Isabella May Beeton (1836-1865), author of best-selling Book of Household Management
↑Council, Lambeth (2019-01-18). "Love Lambeth". Love Lambeth. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
↑Wallace, C. (n.d.). Grave robbers in the victorian era - billiongraves blog. BillionGraves blog. https://blog.billiongraves.com/grave-robbers-in-the-victorian-era/
