CITY OF LONDON CEMETERY
The Grade I-listed City of London Cemetery is one of the largest municipal cemeteries in Europe. Anyone may be buried there irrespective of City connections or religious beliefs.
The 200-acre grounds in Manor Park, east London, were laid out between 1853 and 1855 by William Haywood to relieve the appalling overcrowding of inner London's burial grounds.
The 200-acre grounds in Manor Park, east London, were laid out between 1853 and 1855 by William Haywood to relieve the appalling overcrowding of inner London's burial grounds.
The main entrance, with its splendid Gothic arches and tiled roofs with fish-scale decoration, is one of the eight Grade II-listed buildings within the cemetery.
There are large monuments commemorating people whose remains were transferred from twenty-two over-populated inner-city churchyards. The largest is the Grade II-listed monument (above) erected in 1871 over lead coffins from St Andrew Holborn and St Sepulchre.
Traditional Crematorium Modern Crematorium
Columbarium Catacombs
Chapel Church
William Haywood's design included his own mausoleum (above) which stands on Chapel Avenue. The inscription records that Haywood himself was cremated at Woking in 1894, only two years after the first official cremation in Britain. Haywood was also involved in the enormous undertaking of
improving London's sewage system, working alongside other engineers including Joseph
Bazalgette.
Famous Graves
(Locations in green, see map at the end)
Joseph Merrick (1862-1890) Bed 1771 (also Google maps)
Known as the Elephant Man, Merrick's famously deformed skeleton is preserved in the Royal London Hospital and not available for public viewing. But the rest of his bodily remains were buried here.
Bobby Moore (1941-1993) Gardens of Remembrance (also Google maps)
The ashes of Bobby Moore were scattered here after his cremation at Putney.
43 Waverley Gardens, Barking
Waverley Gardens was Bobby Moore's childhood home. Whilst living there he started his football career with West Ham and made his senior England debut.
There are four statues of Bobby Moore in London, more than any other sports star. You can see them on my post of sports statues - click here.
Catherine Eddowes (1842-1888) Mary Ann Nichols (1845-1888)
Gardens Way, Memorial Gardens
Eddowes and Nichols were two of the five confirmed victims of Jack the Ripper.
Dame Anna Neagle (1904-1986) Plot 245
Anna Neagle was one of Britain's biggest film stars of the 1930s and 1940s. She was married to producer-director Herbert Wilcox (1890-1977) who is also buried in this family plot. Anna Neagle was born in nearby Forest Gate where a street is named after her, although she never lived there ....
But she and Wilcox did live at 63-64 Park Lane from 1950 to 1964 ....
Annie Brewster (1858-1902) Plot 46
Annie Brewster was one of the first African-Caribbean women to pursue a nursing career in London. Born in St Vincent, she joined the London Hospital in 1881 and was appointed nurse in charge of its ophthalmic wards. Her neglected grave was restored in 2022.
David John Vigiland (1926-1946) Plot 118
One of the most striking memorials in the cemetery is that of David John Vigiland, an ordinary seaman who died aged just 20 while serving aboard HMS Chitral in Mombasa in December 1946. Initially buried in Mombasa, his remains were eventually brought back to London in 1952 at the insistence of his parents, and he was reinterred here. What makes the memorial even more remarkable is that the Vigiland family were not well off: David's father was a hairdresser in the London docks area. Yet his parents commissioned the Pietrasanta studios in Italy to create this extraordinary Carrara marble monument, some five metres high. Completed in 1955, it is based on Rubens's The Deposition from the Cross. David's parents were later interred here, his father the last to die, in 1969. Photographs of the three of them can be found at the back of the memorial, adding a nice personal touch to the monument.
Gladys Spencer (1897-1931) Plot 180
Gladys Spencer was a local music and dance teacher who died in 1931 aged 34. 
Christopher Wicking (1943-2008) Plot 198
British screenwriter Chris Wicking was best known for his writing in the horror and fantasy genres.
Christian Mbulu (1996-2020) Plot 104
During his short career, professional footballer Christian Mbulu played for Brentwood Town, Millwall, Motherwell, Crewe Alexandra and Morecambe. Aged 23, he died from heart failure at his home in Preston. His family subsequently set up the Chris Mbulu Trust in his memory.
Elizabeth Ann Everest (1834-1895) Plot 80
Elizabeth Everest was Winston Churchill's nanny, joining the Churchill family a month after the birth of Winston. Churchill wrote in his autobiography, My Early Life: "I loved my mother dearly - but at a distance. My nurse was my confidante. Mrs Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants. It was to her I poured out all my many troubles." Despite being called 'Mrs' Everest, Elizabeth never married. Churchill attended her funeral and paid for the gravestone.
Cooke family Plot 84
The three identical graves marked Cooke of Kingsland (twice) and Cooke of Stratford are those of members of the Cooke 'pie and mash' family. The family still run a traditional shop in Hoxton - serving minced beef pie and mashed potato with lashings of liquor (green parsley gravy) - you can't get more east London than that.
Clive Burr (1956-2013) Plot 315, bed 1037
Clive Burr was the drummer of heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982.
There are 739 Commonwealth war graves in the cemetery, including a Cross of Sacrifice and a memorial wall.
A large number of foxes have made the cemetery their home and they have become quite tame. But this has caused
problems with visitors approaching their dens and, on occasion, apparently
causing vixens to abandon their cubs. As a result wildlife photography has been banned in the cemetery. However, a kindly gardener allowed me to grab a couple of photos (with a long lens) - provided I took no more.
City of London Cemetery Map
(click/tap on map for sharper definition)
Until recently, I'd only been to the City of London Cemetery to attend funerals. Exploring the grounds has therefore been a completely different - and surprisingly pleasurable experience. It is an extraordinary place: part cemetery, part garden, part history book - and, as I've discovered, somewhere with enough stories to keep you wandering around for hours. Plus they do a very wholesome breakfast …
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