Posted:  Friday 12 March 2010

South East Associates
Brookwood Walk

- Wednesday 10th March -

Twenty-one Associates and guests attended the visit to Brookwood Cemetery.

An unusual venue for a visit but Brookwood is an unusual place.

We had a guide, who is a mine of information and we left feeling that several more visits would be necessary to really cover all the areas of interest.

It was opened in 1854 and was the largest in the world.
It remains the largest burial ground in Britain (c450 acres).

It was started by the London Necropolis and National Mausoleum Society for London's dead.
A railway station was built in London and two stations in the cemetery.
A train would make the return journey daily with coffins and mourners.
This continued until the London station was bombed in 1941.

There are now Moslem, Orthodox, and every other religion areas in the cemetery as well as the largest military cemetery in the country - British, American, Canadian, Italian, Polish, French and many others.

We were allowed into the Orthodox Church which was explained in some detail by a resident brother of the order.  A fascinating talk.

Would you like to attend a service, standing up, which could last for 6 hours?

Jack Scott

(ph  12/03/2010)

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