West Norwood Cemetery set to undergo £4.6m restoration

West Norwood Cemetery in south London will receive £4.6m in National Lottery funding so that it can undergo vital restoration work.

The investment, jointly awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund, will save 16 of the cemetery’s listed monuments while also improving its habitat for London’s urban wildlife.

Lambeth Council will contribute an additional £2m to the fund, bringing the total investment in the cemetery up to £6.7m.

Work on the regeneration of the cemetery will start in April this year and will continue until 2024.

CEO of the Heritage Lottery Fund Ros Kerslake said: ‘This National Lottery investment will safeguard West Norwood Cemetery’s significant heritage and transform what it can offer as a space for urban nature and wildlife.

‘Whilst its stories and monuments shine a light on the past, the cemetery’s worth as a community space means that it will play a valuable and expanded role today.’

Established in 1836, West Norwood Cemetery is one of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries which were established in the 19^th century to alleviate overcrowding in small parish graveyards as London’s population grew.

The Grade II*-listed cemetery was the first in the UK to be designed in the Gothic Revival style but has become dilapidated in recent years.

As a result, many of the cemetery’s 69 listed monuments are currently deemed to be at risk – a crack was found in the Grade II*-listed St Stephen’s Chapel last year while two other listed monuments were found to be at risk of collapse.

The National Lottery funding will allow 16 of the cemetery’s monuments to be removed from Historic England’s Heritage At Risk register.

Other improvements to the cemetery the funding will facilitate include the creation of two new entrances, the reparation of pathways and walls, the restoration of St Stephen’s Chapel and the extension of the cemetery’s lodge to allow increased visitor and community activity.

It is hoped that the increased management of West Norwood Cemetery will also be of benefit to its biodiversity.

The cemetery is already a haven for urban wildlife, housing species such as bats, stag beetles, woodpeckers and tawny owls as well as veteran oak and lime trees.