Greenwich Cemetery

Brief information

Greenwich Cemetery stands on the slope of Shooters Hill, and its terrain is no less important than its headstones: from here there are views of the Crystal Palace and the City of London. This is not a flat urban burial ground, but a place where memory is built into the slope of the hill and connected with the south-east London around it.

The cemetery was founded by the Greenwich Burial Board in 1856. Two rather rough Gothic chapels and an entrance lodge from the 1930s have been preserved on the grounds, so the buildings reveal different periods in its development. The military character of the place is explained by its surroundings: nearby were the Royal Military Academy, the Royal Arsenal, Herbert Hospital, and other institutions, which led to many burials of servicemen here.

What to notice first

It is worth comparing three notable parts of the cemetery: the slope, the service buildings, and the military sections. The slope explains why the views here are part of the experience rather than a chance backdrop. The two Gothic chapels show the cemetery’s original mid-19th-century appearance; the entrance lodge from the 1930s adds a later layer without changing the place’s purpose.

The military burials can be read through the layout. Some of the First World War graves are scattered around the cemetery, but 263 burials are gathered in the “Heroes’ Corner.” The two curved panels there are important not as decoration: they connect the names of the people buried in the section with those who lie in unnamed graves in the same cemetery. Nearby is the Second World War section with 75 graves. In this way, the cemetery shows not one memorial point, but different ways of remembering the dead: individual graves, a shared plot, and a list of names.