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St Pancras and Islington Cemetery | |
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Details | |
Established | 1854 |
Location | |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°35′52″N0°10′06″W / 51.5979°N 0.1683°W |
Type | Public |
Size | 190 acres (77 ha) |
No. of interments | around 1 million |
Website | Official website |
St Pancras and Islington Cemetery is a cemetery in East Finchley, North London. Although it is situated in the London Borough of Barnet, it is run as two cemeteries, owned by two other London Boroughs, Camden (formerly St Pancras) and Islington. The fence along the boundary which runs west to east between the two parts of the cemetery has been removed, although the line of it is still marked.
St Pancras and Islington is the third-largest single cemetery serving London, and in burial numbers, it is the largest in the UK with around one million interments and cremations.[ citation needed ] The cemetery is designated Grade II* on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. [1]
The cemetery was the first publicly-owned cemetery in London. [2] [1]
St Pancras and Islington, located in Finchley, is one of London's historically most interesting cemeteries. Following the Metropolitan Burials Act 1852 and later acts which were designed to alleviate serious health and other problems caused by overcrowded burial grounds and lack of management and accountability, the cemetery was established in 1854 as the first municipally owned cemetery in London when the St Pancras Burial Board bought 88 acres (360,000 m2) of the former Horseshoe Farm on Finchley Common. A further 94 acres (380,000 m2) were acquired in 1877 and the total area was divided between Islington and Camden, the former having two areas to the north-west and east, the latter having the remainder. A bank and ditch along the eastern edge marks the parish boundary between Finchley and Hornsey. The cemetery is bordered to the south by the ancient woodland of Coldfall Wood, to the north by the North Circular road, and to the west by the A1000 Great North Road. The cemetery contains several chapels and a large crematorium built by Albert Freeman in 1937.
The St Pancras Anglican chapel (listed grade II) lies at the centre of the semicircular drive which links the entrance and exit to the cemetery, c 250m north-east of the entrance. It was built in 1853 by John Barnett and William C. Birch in a cruciform design, with decorated windows in Gothic style and a central octagonal crossing tower and spire. It was used by both St Pancras and Islington until 1896, when the Islington chapel was built. The Nonconformist chapel was built in the early 1850s by Barnett and Birch and had a six-sided lantern. It was demolished in the 20th century.
The St Pancras Roman Catholic chapel (1896; now demolished) lay on the north side of Roman Road (c 540m north-east of the Islington Anglican chapel), and was in a simple Gothic style. Many of the tombs in the Roman Catholic section are decorated with angels and there are several interesting tombs, including the Melesi Mausoleum of 1914, for an early victim of a car accident.
St Pancras Cemetery has a war graves plot containing over 100 graves from both world wars, together with a number of headstones retrieved from graves that were scattered elsewhere in the cemetery and could not be maintained. A memorial bears the names of 27 casualties whose graves could not be marked individually, and of six First World War casualties buried in the adjacent Islington Cemetery who could not be commemorated there. In total 299 First World War Commonwealth service casualties –including one unidentified Royal Navy sailor –and 207 Second World War casualties are commemorated or buried here. [3] The Victoria Cross recipient John Ross is buried here.[ citation needed ]
Islington Cemetery contains the graves of 334 Commonwealth service personnel of the First and 265 of the Second World War, which are all scattered throughout the cemetery. A Screen Wall memorial in the western part of the cemetery lists names of those buried here whose graves could not be individually marked by headstones, together with those of two servicemen of the Second World War who were cremated at Islington Crematorium. Six soldiers buried in this cemetery whose graves could not be located are alternatively commemorated on stones in St Pancras Cemetery (above). [4]
The grade II listed Mond Mausoleum by Thomas Arthur Darcy Braddell is built in the Grecian style (based on the Temple of Nemesis) in granite and Portland stone, with a pediment supported by two fluted Ionic columns. It was built for Ludwig Mond, a German-born chemist and industrialist. [5]
There is a memorial for William French who died on 13 July 1896 while saving a dog from drowning in one of the Highgate Ponds in North London. The monument was paid for by public subscription.[ citation needed ]
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Being close to the Belarusian community centre in North Finchley, including the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum and the Church of St Cyril of Turau, St Pancras and Islington Cemetery has become the burial place for a number of exiled Belarusian Catholic priests and notable members of the Belarusian British community, including:
The cemetery has areas of neutral open grassland, wetland and ancient woodland. It is a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II. [6] [7]
The London Ecology Unit has advised the owners on management aimed to conserve natural features, whilst recognising the primary use of the cemetery as a burial ground. In recent years, the managers have permitted natural growth on areas not actively used for burials. The result was a proliferation of natural wildlife, as former burial plots became diverse scrub and secondary woodland. [8]
This mixed secondary woodland consists largely of sycamore and ash, with much pedunculate oak, hawthorn and willow. Some exotic ornamental trees have been introduced from time to time, including avenues of limes and horse chestnuts, Lawson's cypress, various pines, yew and monkey-puzzle.
Holly and bramble woodland flora grows beneath the trees and alongside paths, including bluebells, pignut, goldilocks buttercup, cuckoo flower, bugle, and wild strawberry. These have spread from the adjacent woodland, or survived from the cemetery's prior existence as Horseshoe Farm.
In the north-east corner of the cemetery, the Strawberry Vale Brook, culverted for most of its length, emerges into an open course. Wetland habitats here contain mature white willow, rushes, reedmace, marsh thistle, pendulous sedge, and great willowherb.
Birds include green and great spotted woodpeckers, treecreeper and goldcrest and kestrel. Muntjac deer are frequent visitors. [6]
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000, and the crematorium was opened in 1902 by Sir Henry Thompson.
St Pancras is a district in central London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around half of the modern London Borough of Camden. The area of the parish and borough includes the sub-districts of Camden Town, Kentish Town, Gospel Oak, Somers Town, King's Cross, Chalk Farm, Dartmouth Park, the core area of Fitzrovia and a part of Highgate.
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.
West Norwood Cemetery is a 40-acre (16 ha) rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and ecological interest.
Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saints' Cemetery. Nunhead Cemetery was consecrated in 1840 and opened by the London Cemetery Company. It is a Local Nature Reserve.
St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras.
Coldfall Wood is an ancient woodland in Muswell Hill, North London. It covers an area of approximately 14 hectares and is surrounded by St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, the East Finchley public allotments, and the residential streets Creighton Avenue and Barrenger Road. It is the site of the discoveries which first led to the recognition that glaciation had once reached southern England. It was declared a local nature reserve in 2013, and is also a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1.
The City Road Cemetery is a cemetery in the City of Sheffield, England, which opened in May 1881 and was originally called Intake Road Cemetery. Covering 100 acres (40 ha), it is the largest of the municipal cemeteries in Sheffield and contains the head office for Bereavement Services in Sheffield. The cemetery contains Sheffield Crematorium, whose first cremation was on 24 April 1905.
South London Crematorium and Streatham Park Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium on Rowan Road in Streatham Vale. It has always been privately owned and managed and is now part of the Dignity plc group. The South London Crematorium is situated within the cemetery grounds and opened in 1936.
The East London Cemetery and Crematorium are located in Plaistow in the London Borough of Newham. It is owned and operated by the Dignity Funeral Group.
The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a cemetery and crematorium in the east of London. It is owned and operated by the City of London Corporation. It is designated Grade I on the Historic England National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
East Finchley Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium in East End Road, East Finchley. Although it is in the London Borough of Barnet, it is owned and managed by the City of Westminster.
The English coastal city of Brighton and Hove, made up of the formerly separate Boroughs of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, has a wide range of cemeteries throughout its urban area. Many were established in the mid-19th century, a time in which the Victorian "cult of death" encouraged extravagant, expensive memorials set in carefully cultivated landscapes which were even recommended as tourist attractions. Some of the largest, such as the Extra Mural Cemetery and the Brighton and Preston Cemetery, were set in particularly impressive natural landscapes. Brighton and Hove City Council, the local authority responsible for public services in the city, manages seven cemeteries, one of which also has the city's main crematorium. An eighth cemetery and a second crematorium are owned by a private company. Many cemeteries are full and no longer accept new burials. The council maintains administrative offices and a mortuary at the Woodvale Cemetery, and employs a coroner and support staff.
The Camberwell cemeteries located close to each other in Honor Oak, South London, England, are notable for their significant burials and architecture. They have been an important source of socioeconomic data documenting the historical growth and changing demography in the community for the Southwark area since 1855.
New Southgate Cemetery is a 22-hectare cemetery in Brunswick Park in the London Borough of Barnet. It was established by the Colney Hatch Company in the 1850s and became the Great Northern London Cemetery, with a railway service running from near Kings Cross station to a dedicated station at the cemetery, similar to the service of the London Necropolis Company to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.
Robin Hood Cemetery and Crematorium is located near Shirley, West Midlands, within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands. The cemetery was opened in 1917 and covers an area of 45 acres (18 ha) and comprises extensive landscaped lawn graves interspersed with ancient woodland. A cemetery chapel was built in 1931, and the crematorium was built in 1958, including for modifications to the chapel to cater for the cremation facilities.
Hastings Cemetery is a cemetery in Hastings, East Sussex, located off the Ridge road.
Thorncliffe Cemetery and Crematorium is a 66-acre graveyard located on Devonshire Road in the Ormsgill ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.
Earlham Road Cemetery, Norwich also known as Earlham Cemetery or Norwich Cemetery is a cemetery located in Norwich which was officially opened on 6 March 1856 and covers 34 acres (14 ha). The cemetery is divided into two distinct sites by Farrow Road A140 which runs north–south across the site. To the east of the road is the original 19th century cemetery and to the west of the road lies the 20th century addition. Today, it caters for all faiths with separate burial grounds and chapels for Jews and Catholics and a growing one for Muslims together with two military cemeteries. The 19th century cemetery is designed with an informal garden cemetery layout with winding paths while the remainder is a more formal grid type which was favoured by cemetery designer John Claudius Loudon. Much of the original cemetery is a County Wildlife Site and contains grassland and a wide selection of mature trees.
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