The London Necropolis Railway

London, UK - TBCS - Monday, August 1st, 2005 : goo

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The surviving entrance to the private station at 121 Westminster Bridge Road

During the first half of the 19th century, London's population more than doubled and the number of London corpses requiring disposal was growing almost as fast.

Cemetery space in the city had failed to keep pace with this growth, and so the vast new Brookwood Cemetery - the London Necropolis - was built in Surrey. Brookwood was the largest burial ground in the world when it was opened in 1854 by the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company.

To get there, the deceased and their mourners - segregated by class - could catch a train from Westminster. The Necropolis Railway survived until World War 2, when it was heavily damaged. The railway was subsequently closed as motorised hearses became more popular.

An unusual feature of Brookwood Cemetery was that it had its own private railway running through the grounds. The main reason for this was that the Cemetery was over 25 miles from central London, and the only convenient method of transporting coffins and mourners was by the London & South Western Railway. The funeral trains began to operate from 13 November 1854 when the Cemetery opened to the public.

A private Necropolis terminus was provided just outside Waterloo station. The original station (1854-1902) was located between York Street (now Leake Street) and the Westminster Bridge Road. This station was replaced by a more extensive building in 1902. This was due to the complete reconstruction of Waterloo Station. The original terminus was demolished at about this time.

The new station was located at 121 Westminster Bridge Road and continued to provide railway funeral traffic until the station was bombed on the night of 16-17th April 1941. The terminus was never rebuilt after the Second World War although the entrance at 121 still survives.

The funeral trains ran from this private station, down the railway company's main line, and was then reversed into the Cemetery grounds at Brookwood. The trains ran once a day, assuming that funerals were booked to take place. The Sunday service ceased after October 1900. Thereafter the trains operated largely on an "as required" basis. By the 1930s they were running at most twice a week. The service was never reinstated after the Second World War, and the track in the Cemetery was removed c1947-48.

In the Cemetery grounds two private stations were provided, one for each main portion of the burial ground. "North" station served the Nonconformist sections (nearest the main railway line), whilst "South" station served the Anglican sections (close to the A322). After calling at North Station, the railway crossed Cemetery pales (the road which runs through the Cemetery grounds) on a level crossing.

The platform of North Station

North Station was demolished sometime in the 1960s due to dry rot. South Station survived as the "South Bar", providing refreshments to visitors until it was closed in c.1967. The building was burned down in September 1972.

The platform of South Station

The Brookwood Cemetary Society
www.tbcs.org.uk/index.htm
www.tbcs.org.uk/railway.htm

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Peter: wow!! this is fantastic!

elaine: crikey! i had no idea

Anonymous: sweet post. keep up the good work.

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