WEST BROMPTON District Line (Wimbledon)
A great early Victorian Cemetery






















Brompton Cemetery is immediately next to the station (turn right). It was opened in 1840 to help relieve London of the problems created by unpleasant and unhealthy overcrowded churchyards. Created on land that was originally fields and market gardens, it was designed on a grand scale, complete with colonnades, a domed chapel (based on St. Peter’s in Rome, no less) and scarey catacombs (photo left) with great iron doors (guided tours available). However, the squirrel that can just be seen running to the left of the photo of the chapel (above, left) shows that this is also a place with plenty of trees. It is in fact used as a park by local residents. The grounds are also a popular gay meeting place.










Probably because it is managed by The Royal Parks it is in much better shape than those wretched cemeteries where the dreaded Health and Safety people’s solution to the perceived danger of wobbly monuments is to push them over - resulting in acres of flattened crosses and fallen angels Behind the chapel it is a little wilder, but not depressingly so. Nonetheless, please be careful if you are looking for a particular memorial - you are supposed to stick to the paths. Information about finding individual graves can be obtained from the Chapel Office on weekdays (excluding Bank Holidays). As the office is situated at the south end of the cemetery you might wish to access it from the entrance in Fulham Road via Fulham Broadway Tube station (for further details click on link). A notice warns that some of the graves are difficult to find, but I was pleased to discover the resting place of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in the main avenue (count four trees on the right from the Old Brompton Road entrance and look for a Celtic cross). A few yards away lies the singer Richard Tauber, and the Cunard family’s huge plain polished granite slab is about half way along the path by the east wall.






For more about the history of the cemetery and a list of other famous people buried in West Brompton click here. To the west there is a section for war graves, part of which contains a circle of white stones grouped in rather ghostly fashion round a cross with cannon balls at the base.













Continuing the war theme, an unusual tombstone is that of Sub Lieutenant Reginald Warneford VCRNAS who destroyed a Zeppelin in 1915 - a feat which so impressed the readers of the Daily Express that they contributed to a memorial which has a relief of a Zeppelin being bombed. You will find this remarkable monument near the northeast end of the colonnade nearest to the main entrance in the Old Brompton Road.








One particular tomb, that of Frederick Leyland, shipowner and patron of the arts is startlingly beautiful. Designed by Burne- Jones, its copper is now changed to a glorious green, while the delicate filigree ironwork that encases the casket is in perfect condition. It is on the eastern side of the central path. Another monument to look out for is a charming sculpture of two angels, just inside the main entrance (east side).









You might want to check that Chelsea are not playing at home, as West Brompton Tube is used by some football fans as an alternative to Fulham Broadway.
MAP

This is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!

©DR2008