Life and Death

Starts at Tulse Hill Railway Station

54 minutes | 1.8miles 3.0km | Easy
ID: 196.15 | Developed by: Holding Account | Checked by: admin admin | www.walkingroutes.org
This is a walk of contrasts! It starts and ends with a walk along busy shopping streets, with the tranquility and greenery of West Norwood Cemetery in the middle.

Starts at: Tulse Hill Railway Station, SE27 9BW

Ends at: Tulse Hill Railway Station SE27 9BW

Getting there: The route starts at Tulse Hill railway station which is accesible by train and bus.

Route instructions:

[1] Come out of Tulse Hill station and turn right along Avenue Park Road towards Norwood Road. When you reach Norwood Road turn left and walk along the left hand side of Norwood Road for some distance along Norwood Road, crossing Elmcourt Road and Lancaster Avenue. Continue towards St Luke’s Church, crossing Chatsworth Way and Chestnut Road.

(A) St Luke’s is a Grade-II listed building dating from 1823. It was designed by Francis Octavius Bedford and originally provided space for 1800 worshippers at a time when the surrounding area was largely rural.

[2] Cross Robson Road and immediately enter the outer courtyard of West Norwood Cemetery. Pass through the arch and continue walking along the main drive.

(B) The cemetery was created at a time when London’s population was booming, resulting in deteriorating health conditions. The traditional inner London cemeteries were literally overflowing and in 1832 Parliament passed an Act to encourage to creation of several private cemeteries on the outskirts of London. In the next decade seven cemeteries were set up and dubbed the ‘Magnificent Seven’. West Norwood was the second of these, opened in 1837. It was the first to be designed by one man (Sir William Tite) and the first in Gothic style.

In Victorian times it became the most fashionable in South London and became known as Millionaires Cemetery due to the number, quality and elaborate nature of its graves, tombs and monuments. However by 1965 it was neglected and overgrown. Lambeth council acquired the cemetery and changed the grounds, removing at least 10,000 monuments and restarting new burials. Court cases in 1991 and 1994 established this as illegal and new burials ceased. In 1978 it was included in the West Norwood Conservation Area. Since then many of the monuments have become listed structures, and the cemetery now has the most listed monuments in the UK. The cemetery is now looked after by Lambeth Council and the local diocese, with expert advice from the local Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, English Nature and Victorian Society amongst others.

Information about the graves and monuments you pass along the way:

(C) After some 50 yards, on right is the granite tombstone of Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916), American born inventor of the Maxim machine gun, who lived at Herne Hill.

(D) A further 40 yards along on the left there is a small renaissance style monument with a Jacobean arch of J H Everidge (died 1907 and his wife who died age 27 in 1868.(E) Four monuments later, on the left, is a pedestal with urn and drapery over the grave of Thomas King (1835-1888) Stepney prize fighter He was the last acknowledged champion of the British Prize ring and also ‘world champion’ after defeating the American John Heenan.

(F) Next on left –Three granite memorials to the Oakey family, makers of ’Oakies knife polish’.

[3] At a 4-way path junction, fork right towards the crematorium. At the t-junction turn left and stop in front of the monument to Dr Gideon Mantell on your right.

(G) This grade 2 monument was damaged in the 1987 ‘hurricane’. It was restored in 1992 and incorporates a pedestal and a tree within a railing enclosure. An enthusiastic fossil collector and geologist he found pieces of the earliest know dinosaur, which he named Iguanodon.

Return to the junction and turn left. Shortly afterwards turn left along a grass path (identified by an iron bollard and signposted ‘Ships Path’ but only from the other direction!).

For those unable to use the grass path return to the main drive and then turn right following signs to the crematorium, rejoining the main route at the path junction.

[4] Continue for some distance uphill, where the path begins to narrow and has more of a ‘countryside’ feel. Keep going uphill to a junction with another grassy path, where the fence ends. Turn left here. The grass path then comes out onto the main drive in front of the Columbarrium Recordia. Turn right, keeping to the right at the path fork. On the left is the site of the Episcopal Chapel, now a rose garden. Turn left at the tarmac St Mary at Hill Path, and after some distance turn left at the Doulton Path heading along the grassy path to the chapels.

[5] The path comes out at a fork by the cemetery chapel. Continue uphill with the chapel on your left. Continue around the corner to Spurgeon’s grave. Retrace your steps back the junction and then turn left along the main drive, down the hill. Pass the Greek Orthodox Cemetery and St Stephen’s Chapel. Continue down the main drive, round the left hand bend passing a modern rose garden on your right.

[6] The drive then leads back to the main gates, keep right at all the junctions. Head out of the cemetery gates and turn right on Norwood Road. Retrace your steps back along Norwood Road, turning right into Avenue Park to return to Tulse Hill Station.
Acknowledgements
Developed by: Holding Account
Checked by: admin admin

Filed under: London Walking Routes
Tagged: Cemetery, history, Local Interest, London, norwood, Ramblers, south london, walk, Walking
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