West Norwood Cemetery has been awarded £4.6 million from the National Lottery to save many of its listed monuments from ruin.
The Cemetery is one of London’s large ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries and it is home to 69 listed monuments.
The grant, awarded jointly by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund, will be topped up by £2.1m from Lambeth Council and the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery (FoWNC) to bring the total investment to £6.7m.
The project was developed by the FoWNC and Lambeth Council following two years of local consultation and specialist input.
Prof Robert Flanagan, Chair of the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, said: “This grant marks a highpoint in our work to preserve and enhance the cemetery. Whilst we can never reinstate all the lost memorials, in time the cemetery will be returned to something approaching its former appearance.”
The five-year project will deliver the following:
- The existing cemetery lodge will be remodelled and extended to create visitor and community facilities
16 Grade II Monuments will be repaired and conserved - The Grade II* St Stephens Chapel will be repaired and have improved access to enable its use for a wide range of community uses, small-scale events and displays.
- Two new pedestrian entrances installed to increase accessibility to the cemetery – The re-instatement of the historic entrance at Hubbard Road and a new entrance at Robson Road, including reconfiguration of staff and volunteer accommodation
- Boundary Walls and railings repairs
- Improved signage and wayfinding
- Carriageway and footpath resurfacing
- Drainage works
- Increased management to enhance the cemetery’s biodiversity
- A five-year Activities Plan delivered by an Activities Coordinator
- A volunteering programme
- 2 Apprenticeship posts, as well as work-placements.
This is great news for our high street as those at Parkhall will now have a gate connecting them to the high street.
All of these improvements will be delivered whilst continuing to operate as an active cemetery and crematorium. The project will commence in April 2019 and last for five years.
