Information about Specific Cemeteries
Chingford Mount Cemetery
If you know precisely when your ancestor died, and where the interment or cremation took place, further information can be got from writing to the relevant local authority's Parks & Cemeteries department, or the Clerk at the Crematorium office.
I had an ancestor interred at Chingford Mount cemetery. I knew the date of death and contacted the site office at the cemetery and the lady who works there was very helpful. When I visited, she gave me a site map marking where the grave was, and included the grave number which enabled us to work out the location because there was no marker stone, it was a common grave.
The same lady also emailed interment information to a connexion of mine in Australia as the connexion had ancestors interred at Chingford Mount.
Abney Park Cemetery Trust
I have ancestors interred at this cemetery in North East London.
The website is quite easy to get around, the letters of the alphabet are on the Homepage. There is also a gridmap to help you work out where your ancestor is with the reference numbers supplied on line.
However if you visit in person, the office/shop is only open weekdays and they insist on a donation before they will look in their computer files.
The history is very interesting, it wasnt always a cemetery, it was once a mansion with grounds owned by Sir Thomas Abney. I found it was very peaceful there, and not at all depressing. And there is the most delightful ruined gothic chapel right in the middle. But its very easy to get lost there as the little pathways are not named.
A hymn writer went for afternoon tea with Sir Thomas, one day in the 18th Century and liked it so much he moved into the mansion and stayed there until he died. There is a grassy Knoll at the north end where this man used to 'repose' which is named for him and a statue dedicated to him near the middle of the site. I felt the peacefulness of the cemetery when I went there, and on visiting the shop (only open weekdays) I was told that before it became a cemetery, poets and painters used to meet there , so would it be imaginative thinking to wonder if the tranquility of those halcyon days has come down through the years ...........
Somewhere in the grounds is a white stone or marble lion. and there is a lovely collection of Celtic crosses. Also there is a tomb for the Booths, the founders of the Salvation Army.
This is a Heritage Site, relying on donations. If anyone visits on a weekday, the office is open and for a small fee you can be guided to the grave itself. It's now a conservation area and being improved for tourists. But there is a site map which will help anyone locate the approx area of a burial, without a personal guide.
I've visited a few times, and can find my way around with the aid of the map.
I would add I have never visited Abney Park on my own - I have always had a companion or two or three. I would not recommend visiting this cemetery alone. However it is possible to get around without a Guide, if you have the map - unless you really need to know the precise location of a burial. Some of the graves to the back of each plot are nearly inaccessible.
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