I have no idea where the idea to visit Nunhead Cemetery came from, one day I just thought, I think I'll take a wander over there, as its only 15 minutes from where I live.
A bit of background on the cemetery; it's one of the so called Magnificent Seven cemeteries around London, it's the second largest at 52 acres and was consecrated in 1840.
During WWII the iron railing were remove to help the war effort and the Dissenters chapel was hit by a bomb and was later demolished. By the middle of the 20th Century the cemetery was nearly full and was abandoned by the United Cemetery Company. With the gates locked and the railing gone, the cemetery succumbed to the inexorable power of nature and the destructive effects of vandalism and theft.
In 1975 Southwark council bought it for £1, With the assistance of lottery funding in the late 1990s, the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery (FONC) renovated the ruined chapel, restored the gates, walls and railings, repaired 50 memorials, laid new paths and cleared much of the overgrown landscape – though extensive swathes of wilderness remain. The whole 52-acre site is now a conservation area and grade II* historic park, and part is a nature reserve with a diverse variety of flora and fauna.
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| View up The Avenue from the North Gate towards the Anglican Chapel |
So far I have made two trip to the cemetery, the first just to get an idea of what the place is like and the second to explore it a bit more. The main pathways are quite clear but once you venture off these paths it gets more overgrowth.
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| Barely seen tombstones |
Over the years the once manicured lawns have been reclaimed by nature and trees are growing out of the graves or even actually growing around them.
It is also sad to see that a lot of the tombstones that have either succumbed to time or vandalism.
One of the most impressive monuments in the cemetery, is for John Allan (1790-1865). According to a cemetery plaque, “His son and partner, Col. Jon Harrison Allan was an amateur archeologist. It was probably he who designed the massive family tomb based on the Payava tomb at Xanthos.”
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| John Allan Monument |
Although this cemetery doesn't have the prestige as most of the other magnificent seven, or the more famous celebrities laid to rest there, it is definitely worth a visit.
