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Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

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Established
  
1858

Country
  
Address
  
London SE4 1DT, UK

Phone
  
+44 20 8690 3590

Location
  
Size
  
37 acres (15 ha)

Founded
  
1858

Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

Find a Grave
  
Ladywell and Brockley Cemetery

Burials
  
David Jones, George Grove, John Gilbert, Mary Ann Bevan, Walter Southey, Archibald Walter Buckle

London borough
  
Similar
  
Nunhead Cemetery, Garden of Remembr, Lewisham Crematori, West Norwood Cemetery, East London Crematori

Brockley and ladywell cemeteries top 6 facts


Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries (also known as Ladywell and Brockley Cemetery) were opened within one month of each other in 1858 and are sited on adjacent plots of previously open land. The two component parts are characteristic examples of the first wave of Victorian public cemeteries and are now part of the Brockley Conservation Area.

Contents

The cemeteries occupy 37 acres (150,000 m2) of land wholly within the London Borough of Lewisham and are owned and managed by the Cemeteries and Crematorium Services of the Borough. They are also nature conservation sites of Borough Importance Grade 1 and a haven for wildlife, plants and wildflowers.

Until 1948, the two cemeteries were completely separate, being divided by a wall. Ladywell Cemetery, which was previously known as Lewisham Cemetery, stands to the east of the wall and Brockley Cemetery, formerly Deptford Cemetery, lies to the west. Both cemeteries hold a wealth of historical interest. Evidence of Deptford's seafaring past can be found in the many inscriptions and adornments on the headstones.

Brockley and ladywell cemeteries top 6 facts


Notable burials

  • Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924), dominated the English chess scene in late 19th century
  • Horatio Henry Couldery (1832–1918), one of the best-known Victorian painters of animals
  • Jane Clouson (1854–1871), murdered girl with a monument paid for by public donations
  • Ernest Dowson (1867–1900), poet and decadent movement artist
  • Sir William Eames (1821–1897), marine engineer
  • Sir John Gilbert (1817–1897), illustrator, drawing for the Illustrated London News and designed a cover for Punch
  • Sir George Grove (1820–1900), first director of the Royal College of Music, 1882, and author of 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians'
  • Sir William Hardy (1807–1887), Deputy Keeper of Public Records, 1878-1886
  • Lionel de Jersey Harvard, "the only Harvard to attend Harvard", died in World War I
  • George Lacy Hillier (1856-1941), an English racing cyclist and pioneer of British cycling
  • David Jones (1895–1974), war poet and artist
  • Fernando Tarrida del Mármol (1861–1915), Cuban anarchist writer
  • Margaret McMillan (1860–1931), educational reformer
  • Sir Alexander Nisbet (1812–1892), Inspector General of the Royal Navy and honorary physician to the Queen
  • William Stephens (1817–1871), Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of England
  • E. H. Windred (1875–1953), painter of racing pigeons
  • Edward Lewis (1864-1922), Actor and Comedian.
  • War graves

    Both cemeteries contain war graves of Commonwealth service personnel registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

    Brockley Cemetery contains 195 war graves, 175 from World War I and 19 from World War II. The majority of the graves lie in a War Plot. On the cemetery's west side, a Screen Wall memorial lists those whose graves could not be marked by headstones.

    Ladywell Cemetery contains 226 war graves from World War I and 18 from World War II. A War Graves plot contains 100 graves, the names of those buried there being listed on a Screen War Memorial in Plot D, as well as those buried elsewhere in the cemetery whose graves could not be marked by headstones. The CWGC also maintain a Commemorative Plot, in Plot B, on which 46 headstones have been erected.

    Ladywell entrance gates

    The Ladywell entrance to the cemetery is Grade II listed. This notes that the gates were built in 1857 to the designs of William Morphrew, for the Lewisham Burial Board. The gates are made of wrought iron, the piers of stone; square, with set back, sloping tops culminating in saddleback gables. The gates are of florid Gothic design, the monogram of the Lewisham Burial Board in the three lower hubs to each gate, with trefoil and barley sugar decoration above. The name LADYWELL CEMETERY may have been inserted, or is more likely a reworking of the original name LEWISHAM CEMETERY; the style of the lettering, however, is clearly of 1857.

    References

    Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries Wikipedia


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