Brookwood Cemetery, Woking

October 26, 2021

Brookwood Cemetery, or the London Necropolis, is in Brookwood, Woking,. It covers an area of some 500 acres and is Grade 1 listed. It is the largest cemetery in the UK. The cemetery was conceived in 1849 as burial places in London were becoming increasingly hard to find. The coffins were brought to Brookwood via train from a separate station adjacent to London Waterloo. There were different carriages for different classes, eg. First, Second, and Third (for paupers). The North section of the cemetery was for Non-conformists and the South side was for Anglicans, although this does not seem to apply today.

During World War 1, an area of 37 acres was set aside to provide a burial site for Commonwealth and American Armed forces.

You can find out more about Brookwood Cemetary here

Angela and I visited the cemetery on a recce for the Camera Club as a possible area for a group camera shoot. I had suggested it as I had attended a talk about the cemetery some years ago and thought it looked like an interesting place. We were very impressed and found it a very peaceful place to walk. Some members of the club have since visited and found the same. We spent most of our visit in the Military Cemetery.

Outside the office in the North section

Ismali burial plots

The Military Cemetery for American and Commonwealth Forces

Italian area

American area

Inside the chapel seen above - the pole on the left is scaffolding. Work was being carried out inside and we were not allowed in.

Looking across to the Italian area

Czechoslovakia area

French area

Polish

We made our way through to the South cemetery

Back in the Military cemetery - Commonwealth area

American area

This model was in a side room in the American section and appears to be depicting women soldiers. The room was set aside for mothers of American Soldiers (American Gold Star Mothers). We could not enter the room as the clay model appeared to be being photographed.