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MONUMENTS

Whilst there are over 350,000 individuals buried in the cemetery park, there are only 47,000 monuments. The majority of individuals were interred in public graves, usually with no marker. Over time, many monuments have been lost, due to fragile original materials, damage and neglect, and the deliberate actions of the Greater London Council in the 1960-1980s in their (failed) efforts to create a conventional public park.

The cemetery became a public park in 1966, and since then, the ownership and care for the grave plots no longer sits with families of the deceased. The graves within the cemetery park are largely cared for by volunteers. Whilst we welcome support in caring for the 47,000 headstones on sites, we need to delicately balance the needs of heritage and nature at the Cemetery Park and have grave care policies in place.

If you would like to conduct any maintenance, cleaning or tidying around a grave, or wish to provide financial support for repairs and maintenance, please first get in touch with us by emailing heritage@fothcp.org.

Listed Monuments

There are a number of listed monuments within the Cemetery Park. These are detailed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register. 

There are eight monuments within the cemetery park on the register, as well as the original cemetery park walls. These are surveyed and maintained by the Friends, and funds have been, and continue to be, raised for their protection and preservation. Further information is also documented in our Conservation Management Plan.

Significant Monuments

We believe that all monuments matter, including those which have been lost to time. 

Tower Hamlets Cemetery was the resting place of London’s East End, and the vast majority of individuals were interred in public graves, usually with no markers, during its 120 years of operation.  All their stories are worthwhile, and every one deserves remembrance and respect.

Our research and fundraising efforts are enabling us to shine a light on a number of forgotten stories. The best way to discover these is through one of our tours  but some examples are included here. If you have an interest or topic in mind, please do get in touch.

Social Reformers

  • William Crooks (1852-1921) was a noted trade unionist, politician and member of the Fabian Society. Particularly remembered for his campaigning work against poverty and inequality, reforming workhouses and for leading a major dock strike, Will Crooks was born into a one-roomed house in Poplar and became a Labour MP in 1902. A true man of the people, thousands flocked to his funeral.
    Our local archives have assembled a wonderful ‘life in photos’. The procession to the Cemetery was captured in a British Pathe newsreel.
  • Alfred Linnell (1846-1887) was a legal clerk who died after being caught in protests around unemployment and Irish coercion, including Bloody Sunday in November 1887. Linnell was trampled by a police horse charge and died a few weeks later because of complications around a broken femur. Linnell had not been involved in the protests or violence. His funeral was attended by many prominent socialist reformers, including William Morris. The procession began with a large gathering in Soho, where thousands assembled.
    To mark the centenary of Bloody Sunday in November 1987, Labour Heritage commissioned a commemorative slate in honour of Alfred Linnell.

Military History

  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission War Memorial. One of the most prominent monuments in the cemetery park is the War Memorial, constructed in the late 1990s as a replacement for a previous monument. The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, conducted research to unlock the project ‘Hidden Histories – Researching the names on the War Memorial in Tower Hamlets Cemetery’. 204 service personnel are named upon the monument who lost their lives during the First World War, and 78 others who lost their lives in WW2 and other conflicts.

  • The Poplar Civilian War Memorial. Along the eastern boundary wall, it was erected in 1952. It is dedicated to 190 civilians from the Borough of Poplar who lost their lives during enemy air raids within the Blitz  and are buried within the cemetery. This also includes a number of victims of the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943. The monument was constructed  using reclaimed bricks from nearby bomb-damaged buildings.

  • Major John Buckley VC (1813-1876). Buckley was one of the first recipients of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for bravery and valour. Buckley gained this recognition for his role in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, a violent episode which perhaps would not be celebrated today. He was given the honour by Queen Victoria herself at Portsmouth Harbour. Buckley lived the rest of his life in relative poverty nearby, and was interred in an unmarked plot. He was later commemorated with a memorial funded by the War Graves Commission.

Chapels & Catacombs

The original buildings within the Tower Hamlets cemetery have been lost to time. These include:

  • The Anglican Chapel designed by architects Thomas Wyatt and David Brandon, who also designed much of the original grounds, pathways and planting. This was in the meadow area, sometimes called the ‘Heart of the Cemetery’ and would have featured prominently in many funeral processions. The larger, more elaborate monuments lining the route from the main entrance to the former Anglican Chapel reflect its significance: this was a space to be seen, home to some of the cemetery’s most coveted plots.
  • The Byzantine style Dissenters’ Chapel, also designed by Wyatt and Brandon. Today it is referred to as the Nonconformist Chapel. 

Both Chapels sustained damage during the Blitz (though some recollections contest this). Additional catacombs, a mortuary and the original cemetery lodge were also lost over time.