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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