Yes, the macabre Miss Elaineous has been at it again...
When the living get on my nerves (which is frequently!😁) I go and hang out with the dead...
Woodgrange Park Cemetery, east London, was established in 1889 by the Tottenham Park Cemetery Company, and has remained in private ownership ever since.
It is just up the road from where I live but I've only been inside its grounds once before, in 2006. I'm pretty sure that this chapel was there then- I can't be 100% but a bit of online nosey parkering found a forum post dated from August 2006, stating that the chapel would probably get demolished in the future, and other posts mentioning that it was set alight by arsonists then razed to the ground later that year.
It was before the August that I was there and here's a PDF of the chapel as it was- my memory is flaky with this one, but I suspect it would have been in a worse state than is shown here...
Instead, last week, here is what I saw- which is (to copy and rhyme!) a bit of an eyesore...
There are some very regal graves as you enter, via Romford Road...
...And a not quite so regal collapsed headstone...
Right behind this entrance corner section is the locked area belonging to the Muslim Patel Burial Trust. As its name suggests, it is a Muslim burial ground and its presence is regarded as a good thing, as anything which can keep this space from declining into a neglected jungle is a welcome change.
Workers can be seen through the iron fence, tending the Muslim section...
In 2000 Badgehurst Ltd, the owners, attracted controversy when they sold off the north east section of the cemetery to a property developer. This area contained the remains of 15,000 east London citizens who were killed during the worst of the Second World War blitzes. They were interred in a mass grave, some 20 feet deep. Most of the graves were unmarked, but their names were recorded in a burial register. Newham Council contacted 21 families, and their relatives were re-interred in other parts of the cemetery. The rest of the skeletons were buried under the walkways. There was talk of a memorial garden, but this never happened, although this beautiful rose trellis arch was erected in their memory...
Although the site was cordoned off and screens erected, residents in flats overlooking the site were shocked to see human remains unearthed by JCB diggers.
Here are the resulting 120 two-bedroom flats, behind the wilderness. Some graves are still tended...
One resident noted that although his garden was very fertile (anything would grow in it) he seemed to suffer from bad luck and depression, which was not like him. He decided to move out when poltergeist-like activity broke out in the flat. On one occasion a mug flew through the air and hit his baby, injuring him.
(Note:- This finding has since been disputed by a current resident, below in the comments, who states that this cannot be so as there are actually 150 flats, yet none have gardens.)
This uniform section is right in front of the flats and contains newer burials. At least one was labelled 2018...
Further controversy was attracted in 2000 when some of the headstones taken down to make way for the housing development were given to the makers of Emmerdale, as the soap opera was creating a cemetery for the programme. They were individually wrapped and sent to Yorkshire, on the understanding that they would be returned should anyone come forward and claim them.
These stones laying around the cemetery made for a sorry sight...
This angel memorial is near the trellis arch...
...As is this wonky seat...
One thing I noticed was that this is a 'young' graveyard with babies, and forces personnel killed in action, buried here. But I saw more than one grave of a young person- deaths at 17 and 23 in the same area- and several who had died in their fifties. It was all quite saddening.
As you walk to the perimeters, you find more wilderness...
...And old graves...
Ivy covered trees make for atmospheric pictures...
A graveyard is never going to be a cheerful place, but the state of some sections here was simply depressing...
The day wasn't very nice either- cold, overcast and starting to spit rain...
It was also horrid to read that in 2016, 25 graves were attacked and smashed to pieces for no reason whatsoever...
There was no pattern to the vandalism- all faiths had been targeted. One lady was so traumatised that, at the time, she was seriously considering removing her parents, although it wasn't clear whether she was just talking about the memorials- as opposed to having her loved ones exhumed and re-interred elsewhere.
This was a forces grave. I try not to photograph personal details, unless it's someone famous. It just seems a bit too invasive.
There was almost a makeshift path to this guy. I felt a bit spooked and not alone, as I heard rustling, but then I realised that it was just a fox. Squirrels also abound but I was too slow to get photos of either of them.
It's ironic that there's a Second World War memorial right in front of the flats which were built after exhumation of the Blitz victims.
Tended graves. I bet the relatives have to take secateurs and weedkiller with them whenever they visit.
More graves with this simple, square headstone formation...
Drunken graves...
Overgrown graves...
More desolation. This cemetery was too neglected to feel evocative.
Graveyard path to a high-rise. I bet some of the residents here saw the skeletons being removed.
As I moved back towards the entrance, things started becoming a tad more civilised. I liked these 'grave lines'...
Grave avenue...
To the right of this avenue, further down from the grave lines is a graveyard section which is more like what we know nowadays...
This tree is surrounded by the graves of babies. This really upset me when I found it 13 years ago. I didn't like to dawdle too long whilst photographing these as it seemed way too intrusive.
Modern grave by what I assume to be the caretaker's office. I didn't want to hang around, gawp and check it out as there were a few people around, although the grave area was empty, apart from moi.
To the left of the 'grave avenue' is this lone grave...
...And a selection of once-posh memorials...
There aren't many people of significance buried here (one day I'll be famous, but there's no way I'm ending up here. I'm being cremated!)
Frederick Charrington (d.1936) was dubbed The Great Temperance Advocate, despite being born into the famous brewing family. Charles Mare (d.1898) was the ship and bridge builder who founded Thames Ironworks. They are both buried here but I didn't spot their graves.
The five Iranian terrorists shot dead during the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980 are buried here, in unmarked graves. I remember seeing it on the news as a kid and, ironically, I watched a programme about it less than two weeks ago.
I'll leave you with my favourite graves. I call them the 'climbing graves' as they show a person (or angel?) climbing upwards onto the cross. I assume it's something to do with climbing to heaven.
This has been quite a depressing post so I don't think I'll do any more grave digging (excuse the double entendre!) for the time being. This was a cemetery that could certainly do with a little TLC.
After my gallivanting, I stumbled across the Woodgrange Park Cemetery website, which said, 'The taking of photographs and videos within the grounds of Woodgrange Park Cemetery is strictly forbidden.'
Oops!
TTFN
The Miss Elaineous
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I have just finished watching the film '6 Days', about the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege, and decided to do some more research. Your blog was one of the first to pop-up. Woodgrange looks like an interesting place that I will have to visit in the near future. Keep up the blogging.
ReplyDeleteSend me the link if you do decide to visit and blog about it.🙂
DeleteI was stumbling around on Internet and found this interesting article, at least for me. My mothers ancestors, six of them, were all buried in this cemetery, the last being my grandfather. I have memories of attending the funeral. I have now been living in Switzerland for the past 51 years after leaving Bethnal _Green, and I would visit my father once a year until he passed away. On one of my visits I decided to see if the family grave would still be there. It was just after the destruction of the chapel by fire and of course there was no trace left of the family grave. I did some enquiries, but to no avail. It seems this grave was most probably in the area that had been removed and only by paying a fee (I think it was £25) they would do some research for me. The only memory I now have of the grave are the original purchase documents from a long gone relative in my possession and a photo I once took, about 60 years ago, of the gravestone with all the family names on it. I took some photos of the cemetery, similar to those on this web site, as there is very little left of how it used to be. I would visit the gravesite with my mum often. I remember getting the underground to Stratford and afterwards a bus to the cemetery. Thanks for this entry, it was very interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting story- yes, it makes sense to get them to do a search so at least you'll know what happened to your ancestors.xx
ReplyDeleteThe cemetery was sold for £10.00 by a local MP with virtually no burial spaces remaining. Probably so the council did not have to maintain it. The land was then bulldozed so nobody could visit their loved ones by the new owners. After ten years it could then be classed as scrubland and used for development. After the said ten years permission was granted by the House of Lords, after much protesting by family members of the deceased. The teams went in and started to exhume the remains of what was expected to be 14,000 dead souls, but it was in fact 250,000! Yes that is correct 250,000. It was then acknowledged that permission for the housing scheme should have never been allowed. Any grave not visited for one year is classed as being derelict and can be reused by the present owners. You can buy a burial plot, but they are not indefinite 30, 40 or 50 years and cost over £6,000, expensive to say the least. Your family members are expected to maintain the plot. All the deeds of the graves have been rebuked that were there prior to Badgehurst taking over so they can reuse the graves if not maintained. My father contacted the war graves commission as the war graves and memorial were going to be destroyed when the housing development took place. My mother’s grave is in one of the images above, and yes I do have to take gardening equipment with me to keep it maintained every time I visit. When walking around the cemetery I have often found fragments of human bones on top of the piles of earth. I have great grandparents and a sibling buried in the cemetery too, but like many others I cannot find their graves. When I was a child my grandmother took me to visit my mums grave. She died when I was three years old. The cemetery then in the sixties was well cared for and I use to run between the graves. When my mother was buried the Royal Docks virtually closed as the men lined the route to her grave in the cemetery. She worked as a secretary in the docks and many of her relatives were dockers and stevedores. Gone are those days and the people whose lives evolved around the Eastend. When people dig up graves they dig up social history and the people who have worked and sacrificed their lives for the freedom for them to be able to make this act possible. I feel this is openly forgotten by those who reuse the land to bury their dead. This is one of the reasons it is so upsetting for relatives of past souls to see the cemetery in such a state of disrepair. Although I am aware in such a populated city burial spaces are in short supply, respect and sensitivity should still be a major factor in relation to the reuse of burial spaces and the grounds of cemeteries all over the major cities of the U.K. including London.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! Thank you very much for sharing Grace. I am living in the Development built by Bellway Homes since it was finished in 2000. Thank you for bringing more valuable information. There are 150 flats, not 120 and there are no gardens. So the story about fertile soil is not possible. I guess this part of the cementary must have been sold to the promoters in the 90ies as excavation of 250 000 remains would have taken a few years. Some mysterious fires occurred on the site when the development was built. Surely somehow it was very convenient for the Chapel to burn as it was extremely dangerous and located just in front of the cemetery main entrance. Queensberry Place is a great place to live with many young families from all backgrounds and ethics. All the very best,
DeleteVery interesting article. Land was sold in 1995 to the promoters and a fund of £500 000 was allocated to refurbish the cementary back then. 20 years later this fund was still not used for that purpose. Also wondering if the convict scheme used to clean the space is not linked to the damaged graves. Not jumping to conclusions but... Just a thought!
DeleteVery interesting- I will do some more research with regard to any hauntings that might have gone on in/around the housing development. Plus it gives me an excuse to wander back down the road to do some more nosey-parkering...😁
DeleteThe cemetery was sold for £10.00 by a local MP with virtually no burial spaces remaining. Probably so the council did not have to maintain it. The land was then bulldozed so nobody could visit their loved ones by the new owners. After ten years it could then be classed as scrubland and used for development. After the said ten years permission was granted by the House of Lords, after much protesting by family members of the deceased. The teams went in and started to exhume the remains of what was expected to be 14,000 dead souls, but it was in fact 250,000! Yes that is correct 250,000. It was then acknowledged that permission for the housing scheme should have never been allowed. Any grave not visited for one year is classed as being derelict and can be reused by the present owners. You can buy a burial plot, but they are not indefinite 30, 40 or 50 years and cost over £6,000, expensive to say the least. Your family members are expected to maintain the plot. All the deeds of the graves have been rebuked that were there prior to Badgehurst taking over so they can reuse the graves if not maintained. My father contacted the war graves commission as the war graves and memorial were going to be destroyed when the housing development took place. My mother’s grave is in one of the images above, and yes I do have to take gardening equipment with me to keep it maintained every time I visit. When walking around the cemetery I have often found fragments of human bones on top of the piles of earth. I have great grandparents and a sibling buried in the cemetery too, but like many others I cannot find their graves. When I was a child my grandmother took me to visit my mums grave. She died when I was three years old. The cemetery then in the sixties was well cared for and I use to run between the graves. When my mother was buried the Royal Docks virtually closed as the men lined the route to her grave in the cemetery. She worked as a secretary in the docks and many of her relatives were dockers and stevedores. Gone are those days and the people whose lives evolved around the Eastend. When people dig up graves they dig up social history and the people who have worked and sacrificed their lives for the freedom for them to be able to make this act possible. I feel this is openly forgotten by those who reuse the land to bury their dead. This is one of the reasons it is so upsetting for relatives of past souls to see the cemetery in such a state of disrepair. Although I am aware in such a populated city burial spaces are in short supply, respect and sensitivity should still be a major factor in relation to the reuse of burial spaces and the grounds of cemeteries all over the major cities of the U.K. including London.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad story- it's such a shame that the council couldn't be bothered to maintain the cemetery. After all, what would it have cost? The salaries of a handful of caretakers, and had they kept the chapel in good condition then the cost of hiring it out for services, plus the money invested from those who bought plots would have covered that. I loved the story of your mum's funeral procession and agree that some sensitivity should be applied when dealing with previous remains of the deceased.
ReplyDelete