Queen's Road Cemetery
Queen's Road Cemetery | |
---|---|
Details | |
Established | 1861 |
Location | |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°23′23″N 0°06′03″W / 51.3896°N 0.1009°W |
Owned by | London Borough of Croydon |
Size | 9 hectares (22 acres) |
No. of graves | 50,000+ |
No. of interments | 91,000+ |
Find a Grave | Queen's Road Cemetery |
Queen's Road Cemetery is a
Queen's Road Cemetery covers approximately 22 acres (89,000 m2) and is in the north of the borough of Croydon, east of
History
Overcrowding and the rise of urban centres in the 19th century made it necessary to establish cemetery plots outside the city limits. In order to cater for poorer members of the public, the Burial Acts of 1852–57 organised local burial boards throughout the country, which had a duty to provide burial grounds where interment would be cheap and decent. The Croydon Local Board of Health was appointed as a Burial Board by an Order in Council on 3 March 1859, and was responsible for establishing Queen's Road Cemetery.[2]
In 1859, following the suggested closure of St John the Baptist (
An award was given to E.C. Robbins, Arundel Street, the Strand, London, in October 1860 for the best design layout for the Queen's Road chapels. The design featured two mortuary chapels, each having a simple nave with open timbered roof, and the Episcopal chapel having the addition of a semi-octagonal apse at the east end. The chapels are no longer in use for burial services.
To accompany the chapels a Lodge was also built, which until recently was home to cemetery staff but is now in private ownership.
Croydon Borough Council paid £5079 in 1860 to purchase the land for the cemetery. Approximately 22 acres (89,000 m2) were purchased at a cost of £200 per acre, and £8 per acre for a portion of
Portions of the cemetery were set aside for
In the first year of opening 63 consecrated burials took place and 20 unconsecrated burials. The approximate population of Croydon at the time was 30,663.
In the south-west corner of the cemetery stands a substantial brick public air-raid shelter.
Persons buried
The first person to be buried in the cemetery was Mr Thomas Garniss, a member of the Croydon Board of Guardians. The grave was purchased on 26 July 1861 for £9 4s10d.[2]
Two of the largest purchased areas in Queen's Road Cemetery belong to the Ladies of Mary, sisters from the
Street traders of Croydon have a number of graves within the cemetery known as ‘Surrey Street’ after the local Surrey Street Market.
Admiral Sir Stephen Lushington, 1803–1877, Crimean War veteran, captain of HMS Albion and governor of Greenwich Hospital, is buried here.
There are 181 Commonwealth service war graves, of both World Wars, in the cemetery.
The parents and sister of Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) are buried in the cemetery.
Other notable burials
- Joshua Allder, founder of Allders department store
- Reuben Barrow, Liberal MP for Bermondsey
- Francis Barraud of Lavers, Barraud and Westlake
- Edmund Duff, Vera Sydney, Violet Sydney, victims of the Croydon Poisoning Mystery in Birdhurst Rise, South Croydon are buried in a double grave (close to the entrance of the cemetery).
- Frederick Walters
John & Mary Harris. John Harris (1792–1873), (artist and facsimilist) was notable for designing Tracing-Boards used in Masonic Lodges worldwide. Worked also at the British Museum and produced a facsimile of Magna Carta in gold. He and his wife resided at The Asylum for Aged, Worthy and Decayed Freemasons, located in Freemason's Road, Croydon. They were in an unmarked grave until a headstone was erected by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Surrey and consecrated in September 2018.
Wildlife
Like many urban cemeteries, Queen's Road provides a good localised habitat for wildlife in an otherwise largely built-up area. There is a wide variety of trees, bushes and shrubs, and a few areas of grass have been set aside to grow wild. Both
Trees include yew, birch, beech, rowan, several species of pine and a number of blossoming fruit trees.
References
- ^ Croydon Council website, Queen's Road Cemetery page Archived August 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. An undated information board gives the number of graves as 37,000.
- ^ a b All information in this section is taken from the booklet 'Queens Road Cemetery' (undated; published by Croydon Cemeteries & Crematorium Office, Mitcham Road, Croydon, CR9 3AT; research by Stella Garratt). All the information in this booklet is also reproduced on information boards located in Queen's Road Cemetery.
- ^ [1] CWGC cemetery report, access date 3 August 2012.
External links
- Media related to Queen's Road Cemetery at Wikimedia Commons
- Queen's Road Cemetery (LB Croydon)