West Norwood Cemetery (London, United Kingdom)

West Norwood Cemetery, also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery, is one of the “Magnificent Seven” cemeteries of London.

West Norwood Cemetery is one of the metropolitan cemeteries founded to deal with the expanding population of London in the early 19th century. It was opened in 1837 and it has 65 Grade II and Grade II* listed monuments, such as memorials to Mrs Beeton, Sir Henry Doulton, James William Gilbart, Dr William Marsden, Baron Julius de Reuter, Charles Spurgeon and Sir Henry Tate.

To increase knowledge and appreciation of the West Norwood Cemetery, the Friends hold general tours on the first Sunday of every month, hold special themed tours during the summer and meetings with talks during the winter.

FWNC also publishes three newsletters a year, and are starting to produce booklets on notable people buried in the cemetery. They aim is to raise funds for conservation work, and to encourage other organisations and individuals to make contributions. As a result, numerous monuments have been repaired or more substantially restored during the past decade, and an extensive programme of works directed by Lambeth Council is currently under way.