| Details | |
|---|---|
| Year established | 1852 |
| Country | England |
| Location | Woking |
| Owned by | Erkin Güney (2006-present)[1] Ramadan Güney (1985-2006)[2] was previously London Necropolis Company |
| Size | 500 acres (2,020,000 m2) |
| Number of interments | 235,000 |
| Website | Brookwood Cemetery |
Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.
Contents |
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, was established by the London Necropolis Company in 1849 to house London's deceased, since the capital was finding it difficult to accommodate its increasing population, both of living and dead. The cemetery is said to have been landscaped by architect William Tite, but this is disputed.[3] By 1854, Brookwood was the largest cemetery in the world (it is no longer). Incorporation by Royal Act of Parliament in 1852, Brookwood Cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 7 November 1854 and opened to the public on 13 November 1854. Over 235,000 people have been buried there.
Brookwood originally was accessible by rail from a special station – the London Necropolis railway station – next to Waterloo station in London. Trains ran right into the cemetery on a branch from the South Western Main Line – the junction was situated just to the west of Brookwood station. The original London Necropolis station (near Waterloo) was relocated in 1902, but its successor was demolished after suffering bomb damage during World War II. There were two stations in the cemetery itself: North for non-conformists and South for Anglicans. Their platforms still exist. It is still possible to enter the cemetery directly from Brookwood station.
A military cemetery was added to Brookwood 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,[4] King of England, whose relics are kept nearby in St Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church.
The London Necropolis Company relinquished its interest in the cemetery around 1975, but the cemetery remains privately owned. In 1985, Ramadan Güney acquired Brookwood Cemetery, and was buried there in 2006. The purchase evolved from Güney's role as Chairman of the UK Turkish Islamic Trust, which wanted suitable burial facilities for its members.[2]
Brookwood Military Cemetery covers about 37 acres (150,000 m2) and is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the United Kingdom.[5] 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. Two dozen Muslim dead were transferred here in 1968 from the Muslim Burial Ground, Horsell Common. 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 Brookwood Memorial honours 199 Canadian servicemen and women. The memorial was placed within a military cemetery near the theatre of operations.[6]
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.
This 4.5-acre (18,000 m2) 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.[7][8]