Brookwood Cemetery

Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. Also known as the London Necropolis, it was established by the London Necropolis Company in 1852 to house London's dead, since the capital was finding it difficult to accommodate its increasing population, both of living and dead. It is said to have been landscaped by architect William Tite but this is disputed in John Clarke's book "London's Necropolis". By 1854 it was the largest cemetery in the world (it is no longer) and over 240,000 people have been buried there.

The cemetery was originally accessible by rail from a special cemetery station – the London Necropolis railway station – next to Waterloo station in London. From there, trains ran right into the cemetery on a branch line from the South Western Main Line – the junction was situated just to the west of Brookwood station. The original London station was relocated in 1902 but its successor was demolished after suffering bomb damage during World War II. It is still possible to enter the cemetery directly from Brookwood station.

A military cemetery was added in 1917 and contains some of the dead from World War I and World War II. A military memorial was built in 1958. Memorialised here too is Edward the Martyr ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/st_edward_the_martyr.htm] ), King of England, whose relics are kept nearby in St Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church.

Brookwood American Military Cemetery and Memorial

This four-acre site lies to the west of the civilian cemetery. It contains the graves of 468 American military dead and a further 563 with no known grave are commemorated. It is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Close by are military cemeteries and monuments of the British Commonwealth and other allied nations.

;Source:
* [http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/bk.php Brookwood cemetery, American Battle Monuments Commission site]
* [http://media.oaktreesys.com/abmc/video/cemeteries/bk.wmv Brookwood cemetery, American Battle Monuments Commission video]

Brookwood Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery and memorials

Brookwood Military Cemetery covers about 37 acres is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the United Kingdom. The land was set aside during World War I to provide a burial site for men and women of Commonwealth and American armed forces who died in the United Kingdom of wounds. It now contains 1,601 Commonwealth burials from World War I and 3,476 from World War II. Within this, there is a particularly large Canadian section, which includes 43 men who died of wounds following the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. The cemetery also has 786 non-Commonwealth war graves, including 28 unidentified French. It also contains Polish, Czech, Belgian and Italian sections. The United Kingdom 1914-1918 Memorial stands at the north-eastern end of the 1914-1918 Plot.

The Brookwood Memorial stands at the southern end of the Canadian section of the cemetery and commemorates 3,500 Commonwealth men and women who died during the Second World War and have no known grave. This includes commandos killed in the Dieppe and St Nazaire Raids; and Special Operations Executive personnel who died in occupied Europe.

The nearby Brookwood (Russia) Memorial was erected in 1983 and commemorates forces of the British Commonwealth who died in Russia in World War I and World War II.

;Source:
* [http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=44400&mode=1 Commonwealthwealth War Graves Commission Brookwood site]

Notable graves

*Dr Robert Knox (1791–1862), notable anatomist involved with the West Port Murders ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/robert_knox.htm] )
*Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891), atheist and political activist ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/charles_bradlaugh.htm] )
*Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840–1899), Anglo-Hungarian orientalist ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/dr_leitner.htm] )
*Dugald Drummond (1840–1912), Scottish locomotive engineer
*Edith Thompson (1893–1923), executed in Holloway prison in 1923 ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/edith_thompson.htm] )
*John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), American artist ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/j_s_sargent.htm] )
*Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon (1862–1931) baronet, sportsman and RMS Titanic survivor ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/duff_gordon.htm] )
*Janet Smith (b:, d:) wife of Captain of the Titanic, Edward J Smith buried a few feet from Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon
*Sir Dorabji Tata (1859–1932), Indian philanthropist
*Marmaduke Pickthall (1875–1936), Western Islamic Scholar
*Said Bin Taimur of Muscat (1910–1972), Sultan of Oman 1932–1970
*Rebecca West (1892–1983), novelist, feminist and journalist ( [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/rebecca_west.htm] )
*Naji al-Ali (1937?–1987), Palestinian political cartoonist
*Hamid Mirza (1918–1988), Heir Presumptive of the Qajar Dynasty
*Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912–1993)
*Muhammad al-Badr (1926–1996) was an Imaam of Yemen.
*Dodi Al-Fayed (1955–1997), film producer, (original burial site, subsequently moved to the Al-Fayed estate in Surrey)

References

* Clarke, J.M., (1995), "The Brookwood Necropolis Railway", Locomotion Papers No. 143, The Oakwood Press, ISBN 0-85361-471-7

ee also

* List of famous cemeteries

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.brookwoodcemetery.com Brookwood Cemetery] – Official website
* [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/history.htm Brookwood Cemetery] – History "(The Brookwood Cemetery Society)"
* [http://www.tbcs.org.uk/railway.htm The Cemetery Railway] – History "(The Brookwood Cemetery Society)"
* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww2mem/brookwood Brookwood Cemetery] – Brookwood War Memorial
* [http://www.thothweb.com/article3475.html Brookwood Cemetery] – Haunted Brookwood Cemetery
* [http://ukgraves.info/brookwood.asp Brookwood Cemetery] – Four galleries of images from UKGraves.info
* [http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cj.tolley/cjt-brhx.htm BRH: Asides]
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