Brompton Cemetery

Situated virtually next door to the Earl's Court Exhibition Center, The West London and Westminster Cemetery Company, as it was known, was established in 1836.

Designed by Benjamin Baud, the cemetery has a formal layout with listed buildings, monuments and a chapel, based on St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Brompton has an extensive set of catacombs most of which are below impressive ornate colonnades. In general the cemetery appears in extremely good condition and very little evidence of vandalism is visible, the only thing that detracts from the overall impressiveness is the councils insistence on wrapping any monument which leans more then five degrees, in red and white striped tape. This distracts from the overall picture of the cemetery's formal layout and is a tax on its appearance.

Unfortunately it would also seem that the Catacombs have not escaped unwanted attention. It would appear that Brompton may have fell victim to the deplorable lead thief's. In the 1960's and 70's there were gangs lurking by night who would strip the lead from the thousands of Victorian coffins which occupied the many London Catacombs.

Sadly in more recent restoration projects such as at Nunhead, it was found that many skulls were missing also. The theft of the skulls is thought to date back to the Victorian era when anatomical research made a human skull a valuable asset.

Travel

South Gate off Fulham Rd. North Gate off Old Brompton Rd.

Tube:

West Brompton - District Line (Wimbledon branch)

Bus:

14, 74, 190, 211, 328, 414, 430, C1, C3 all operate near Brompton Cemetery.

Parking available on site for grave grant holders only.

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To read in-depth about Brompton Cemetery, click here

Brompton 2007 Open Day photos click here