The junction with the LSWR

The junction with the LSWR, known as Necropolis Junction, was west-facing, meaning that trains to and from London were obliged to reverse in and out of the branch to the two stations in the cemetery.^[47] The poor quality gravel soil, which had been the initial reason for the site's cheapness and its selection as the site for the cemetery, was poorly suited as a railway trackbed. DELL DFS491105MH0T Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The rails, and in particular the sleepers, deteriorated rapidly and needed constantly to be replaced.A site for the London terminus near Waterloo had been suggested by Richard Broun. Its proximity to the Thames meant that bodies could be cheaply transported to the terminus by water from much of London, HP 532613-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan while being situated near three major Thames bridges the area was easily accessed from both north and south of the river. The arches of the huge brick viaduct carrying the LSWR intoWaterloo Bridge station (now London Waterloo station) were easily converted into mortuaries. Compaq Presario CQ60-417DX Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Broun also felt that the journey out of London from Waterloo Bridge would be less distressing for mourners; while most of the rail routes out of London ran through tunnels and deep cuttings or through densely populated areas, at this time the urban development of what is now south London had not taken place and the LSWR route ran almost entirely through parkland and countryside.^[ HP Pavilion dv7-3060us Laptop CPU Cooling Fan In March 1854 the LNC purchased a plot of land between Westminster Bridge Road and York Street (now Leake Street).^[50] Architect William Tite and engineer William Cubitt drew up a design for a station, which was approved in June 1854 and completed in October of that year. HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan As the station abutted the arches of the LSWR's viaduct, it acted as an obstacle to any increase in the number of lines serving Waterloo station (renamed from Waterloo Bridge station in 1886). Urban growth in the area of what is now south west London, through which trains from Waterloo ran, Dell Latitude E6510 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan led to congestion at the station and in 1896 the LSWR formally presented the LNC with a proposal to provide the LNC with a new station in return for the existing station. The LNC agreed to the proposals, in return for the LSWR granting the LNC control of the design of the new station and leasing the new station to the LNC for a token rent in perpetuity, HP Pavilion dv6-2019er Laptop CPU Cooling Fan providing new rolling stock, removing any limit on the number of passengers using the Necropolis service, and providing the free carriage of machinery and equipment to be used in the cemetery.^[64] Although the LSWR was extremely unhappy at what they considered excessive demands,^[65] in May 1899 the companies signed an agreement, HP Pavilion dv6-3126ea Laptop CPU Cooling Fan in which the LSWR gave in to every LNC demand. In addition the LSWR paid £12,000 compensation (about £1.14 million in terms of 2014 consumer spending power) for the inconvenience of relocating the LNC station and offices,^[45][66] and agreed that mourners returning from the cemetery could travel on any LSWR train to Waterloo, HP 532613-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Vauxhall or Clapham Junction.^[67] A site for the replacement terminus was bought by the LSWR in 1899, south of the existing site and on the opposite side of Westminster Bridge Road.^[68] The new station was completed on 8 February 1902,^[68] and the LSWR viaduct was widened to serve a greatly enlarged Waterloo station, destroying all traces of the original LNC terminus. HP Pavilion dv6-3300ss Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The two stations in the cemetery were very similar in design. North station served the Nonconformist section of the cemetery, and South station served the Anglican section. On William Cubitt's advice the two stations in the cemetery were built as temporary structures, in the expectation that they would need to be rebuilt once the railway was operational and the issues with operating a railway of this unique nature became clearer. IBM Lenovo Thinkpad W500 Series Laptop CPU Cooling Fan ^] Other than brick platform faces, chimneys and foundations, the stations were built entirely of wood.^[58] Each station held first class and ordinary reception rooms for mourners, a first class and an ordinary refreshment room, and a set of apartments for LNC staff.^[58] To provide an attractive first view of the cemetery for visitors arriving at the stations, HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan the areas around the stations and their associated chapels were planted with groves of bay, Cedar of Lebanon, rhododendron and Portuguese laurel.^[54] At the time the cemetery opened, the nearest railway station other than those on the cemetery branch was Woking railway station, 4 miles (6.4 km) away. HP Pavilion dv5-1020et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan As only one train per day ran from London to the cemetery stations and back, and even that ran only when funerals were due to take place, access to the cemetery was difficult for mourners and LNC staff.^[70] Although in the negotiations leading to the creation of the cemetery the LSWR had told the LNC that they planned to build a main line station near the cemetery, they had not done so.^[71] HP Pavilion dv5030 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan On 1 June 1864 the LSWR finally opened Brookwood railway station on their main line, immediately adjacent to the cemetery.^[71][72] A substantial commuter village grew around the northern (i.e. non-cemetery) side of the new station. As the corpses brought to either of the reception-houses by the funeral tender are now taken each one its separate way, Compaq Presario CQ61-416EG Laptop CPU Cooling Fan followed by its mourning-group, and by paths where privacy is unbroken, and none but soothing and religious influences around,—when amidst this scene, the clergyman or minister, unharassed by other duties, reads reverently the prayers for the dead,—when all which is this taking place tends to raise the dignity and self-respect of human nature, HP 532614-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan and create a sublime ideal of the great mystery of the grave, we perceive by contrast, more and more, what the evils of city and suburban burials have been, and what an educative process lies within even this portional one of their reformation … Hither the wealthy and respectable are removing the remains of relatives from the graves and vaults of the metropolis, HP Pavilion dv5-1020et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan and hither the Nonconformists are bringing the long-interred dead from even the once-sacred place of Bunhill Fields … but it is a law that moral and social advantages permeate as surely down through the strata of society as water finds its level. In spite of little knowledge, in spite of ignorant opposition from those interested in a different state of things,  HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan the middle and working classes of the metropolis will not be slow in perceiving the advantages of extramural burial, conjointly with a management that frees them from extortion … To merely provide decency of sepulchre was not, and is not, all. HP Pavilion dv5-1020et Laptop CPU Cooling Fan [The LNC] perceived that if it was to work out with any efficiency the problem of extramural burial, it must be its own undertaker, and provide a reception-house, as well as railway transit. This it has done accordingly. The London Necropolis Company offered three classes of funerals. HP Pavilion dv5030 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan A first class funeral allowed its buyer to select the grave site of their choice anywhere in the cemetery;^{[note 11]} at the time of opening prices began at £2 10s (about £199 in 2014 terms) for a basic 9-by-4-foot (2.7 m × 1.2 m) with no special coffin specifications. It was expected by the LNC that those using first class graves would erect a permanent memorial of some kind in due course following the funeral. Compaq Presario CQ61-416EG Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Second class funerals cost £1 (about £79 in 2014 terms) and allowed some control over the burial location.^[48] The right to erect a permanent memorial cost an additional 10 shillings (about £40 in 2014 terms); if a permanent memorial was not erected the LNC reserved the right to re-use the grave in future.^[ HP 532614-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Third class funerals were reserved for pauper funerals; those buried at parish expense in the section of the cemetery designated for that parish. Although the LNC was forbidden from using mass graves (other than the burial of next of kin in the same grave) and thus even the lowest class of funeral provided a separate grave for the deceased, HP MCF-W13BM05 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan third class funerals were not granted the right to erect a permanent memorial on the site.^[48] (The families of those buried could pay afterwards to upgrade a third class grave to a higher class if they later wanted to erect a memorial, but this practice was rare.)^[ HP Pavilion dv5-1174ca Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Despite this, Brookwood's pauper graves granted more dignity to the deceased than did other graveyards and cemeteries of the period, all of which other than Brookwood continued the practice of mass graves for the poor.^[78] Brookwood was one of the few cemeteries to permit burials on Sundays, HP Pavilion dv7-3050ec Laptop CPU Cooling Fan which made it a popular choice with the poor as it allowed people to attend funerals without the need to take a day off work.^[79] As theatrical performances were banned on Sundays at this time, it also made Brookwood a popular choice for the burial of actors for the same reason, to the extent that actors were provided with a dedicated section of the cemetery near the station entrance. HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan While the majority of burials conducted by the LNC (around 80%) were pauper funerals on behalf of London parishes,^[77] the LNC also reached agreement with a number of societies, guilds, religious bodies and similar organisations. The LNC provided dedicated sections of the cemetery for these groups, on the basis that those who had lived or worked together in life could remain together after death.^[8HP 646578-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan ^] Although the LNC was never able to gain the domination of London's funeral industry for which its founders had hoped, it was very successful at targeting specialist groups of artisans and trades, to the extent that it became nicknamed "the Westminster Abbey of the middle classes".^[83] HP 489126-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan A large number of these dedicated plots were established, ranging from Chelsea Pensioners and the Ancient Order of Foresters to the Corps of Commissionaires and the LSWR.^[84] The Nonconformist cemetery also includes a Parsee burial ground established in 1862, which as of 2011 remains the only Zoroastrianburial ground in Europe.^[85] DELL Inspiron E1405 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Dedicated sections in the Anglican cemetery were also reserved for burials from those parishes which had made burial arrangements with the LNC.^[54] Immediately after its foundation the LNC used existing firms of London undertakers to arrange funerals, but over time took over all aspects of the arrangements from coffin-making to masonry.^[77] DELL DFS541305MH0T Laptop CPU Cooling Fan LNC funerals were intentionally kept as similar as possible to those of traditional undertakers, with the exception that a railway carriage was used in place of a hearse.^[48] On being commissioned to provide a funeral, invitations would be sent out either by the deceased's family or from the LNC offices. HP G62-341NR Laptop CPU Cooling Fan These letters specified the waiting room to be used, the time of the train to Brookwood, and the expected return time to London.^[48] If the funeral was to be held in London, a traditional hearse and carriage would take the deceased to their parish church for the service, and then on to the London railway terminus; HP Pavilion dv6648el Laptop CPU Cooling Fan if the funeral was to take place in the terminus or in Brookwood, the procession would come directly to the terminus. On arrival at the terminus the mourners would be led either to one of the dedicated first class waiting rooms (for first and second class funerals) or to the communal third class waiting room.^[ HP Pavilion dv7-6151ed Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The coffin would be discreetly unloaded from the hearse and sent to the platform level by lift.^[89] Those attending first and second class funerals would be permitted to watch the coffins being loaded onto the train if they so wished.^[76] (After the relocation to the new London terminus in 1902, some funeral services would be held in a Chapelle Ardente on platform level, Toshiba Satellite P100-386 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan for those cases where mourners were unable to make the journey to Brookwood.^[76]) Each door of the waiting train would be labelled with the name of the deceased, to ensure all passengers travelled with the correct funeral party;^[76] the names of the deceased being carried on the train would be called in turn, and that person's mourners would board the train.^[89]  HP G42-380LA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan At the time the service was inaugurated, the LNC's trains were divided both by class and by religion, with separate Anglican and Nonconformist sections of the train.^[37] This distinction applied to both living and dead passengers. Intended to prevent persons from different social background from mixing and potentially distressing mourners and to prevent bodies of  HP G60-230us Laptop CPU Cooling Fan persons from different social classes being carried in the same compartment rather than to provide different facilities, the carriages intended for all classes and religions were very similar in design, and the primary difference was different ornamentation on the compartment doors.^[31] HP KSB06105HA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan At 11.35 am (11.20 am on Sundays) the train would leave London for Brookwood, arriving at Necropolis Junction at 12.25 pm (12.20 pm on Sundays). On arrival at North or South station coffins would usually be unloaded onto a hand-drawn bier and pulled by LNC staff to the appropriate chapel.^[91] While this was taking place the mourners were escorted to the waiting rooms at the station.^[92SONY Vaio VPC-EB1E0E Laptop CPU Cooling Fan ^] On arrival at the chapels first and second class funerals would generally have a brief service (third class funerals had a single service in the appropriate chapel for all those being buried).^[91] For those burials where the funeral service had already been held at either a parish church or the LNC's London terminus the coffins would be taken directly from the train to the grave.^[78]  Compaq Presario CQ70-220EO Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The return trains to London generally left South station at 2.15 pm and Necropolis Junction at 2.30 pm; the return journey initially took around an hour owing to the need to stop to refill the engine with water, but following the construction of the water tower in the cemetery this fell to around 40 minutes.^[92] HP Pavilion dv7-3060sb Laptop CPU Cooling Fan An 1854 agreement between the LNC and LSWR gave consent for the LNC to operate two or three funeral trains each day if demand warranted it, but traffic levels never rose to a sufficient level to activate this clause.^[79] The train only ran if there was a coffin or passengers at the London terminus waiting to use it, ACER Aspire 7720 Series Laptop CPU Cooling Fan and both the journey from London to Brookwood and the later return would be cancelled if nobody was due to leave London that morning.^[37] It would not run if there was only a single third or second class coffin to be carried, and in these cases the coffin and funeral party would be held until the next service.^[93] SONY UDQF2PH52CF0 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Generally the trains ran direct from London to the cemetery, other than occasional stops to take on water. Between 1890 and 1910 the trains also sometimes stopped at Vauxhall and Clapham Junction for the benefit of mourners from south west London who did not want to travel via Waterloo, but these intermediate stops were discontinued and never reinstated.^[79] Compaq Presario CQ61-216TU Laptop CPU Cooling Fan After 1 October 1900 the Sunday trains were discontinued, and from 1902 the daily train service was ended and trains ran only as required.^[80] On some occasions where there were very large numbers of mourners the LSWR would provide special passenger trains from Waterloo to their own station at Brookwood to carry additional mourners to the vicinity of the cemetery.^[88] Toshiba Satellite A215-S5802 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan As well as intending to conduct those burials which would previously have taken place in London's now-closed graveyards, the LNC also envisaged the physical relocation of the closed burial grounds to their Necropolis, to provide a final solution to the problems caused by burials in built-up areas.^[62] Toshiba Satellite A210-1BC Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The massive London civil engineering projects of the mid-19th century—the railways, the sewer system and from the 1860s the precursors to the London Underground—often necessitated the demolition of existing churchyards.^[94] The first major relocation took place in 1862, DELL Inspiron 630m Laptop CPU Cooling Fan when the construction of Charing Cross railway stationand the routes into it necessitated the demolition of the burial ground of Cure's College in Southwark.^[94] Around 5,000 cubic yards (3,800 m³) of earth was displaced, uncovering at least 7,950 bodies.^[94] These were packed into 220 large containers, each containing 26 adults plus children, ACER Travelmate 4152nlci Laptop CPU Cooling Fan and shipped on the London Necropolis Railway to Brookwood for reburial, along with at least some of the existing headstones from the cemetery, at a cost of around 3 shillings per body.^[62] At least 21 London burial grounds were relocated to Brookwood via the railway, along with numerous others relocated by road following the railway's closure.^[ HP Pavilion dv6-3034tx Laptop CPU Cooling Fan The LNC's exhumation and relocation business, split from the LNC in 1973 and renamed "Necropolis", continued to operate until 2002. The success of the LNC relied on taking over all, or at least a significant portion, of the burials of London's dead. However, while the Metropolitan Interment Amendment Act 1852 had repealed Chadwick's scheme for two very large cemeteries near London, HP G62-107SA Laptop CPU Cooling Fan it had also permitted London's parishes to make their own arrangements for the burial of their dead.^[96] Each parish could make arrangements with the cemetery of its choosing, or use money from the rates to create their own cemeteries.^[61] The financial mismanagement and internal disputes within the LNC had delayed the opening of   HP G62-455TX Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Brookwood Cemetery by 18 months,^[42] and during this period new cemeteries nearer London had opened or were nearing completion.^[61]While some parishes did choose Brookwood as their burial site, many preferred either to make arrangements with less distant cemeteries, or to buy land on the outskirts of London and open their own suburban cemeteries.^[61] HP 532617-001 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan Concerns over the financial irregularities and the viability of the scheme had led to only 15,000 of the 25,000 LNC shares being sold, severely limiting the company's working capital and forcing it to take out large loans.^[97] Buying the land from Lord Onslow, compensating local residents for the loss of rights over Woking Common, HP Pavilion dv6-1101au CPU Fan draining and landscaping the portion to be used for the initial cemetery, and building the railway lines and stations were all expensive undertakings. With far fewer burial contracts with London parishes than had been anticipated, by the time Brookwood Cemetery opened in November 1854 the LNC was on the verge of bankruptcy.^[61] HP Pavilion dv7-3190ev CPU Fan Recognising their financial predicament, the LNC lobbied Parliament for a new Act of Parliament to allow the venture to survive. On 23 July 1855 the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Amendment Act 1855 received Royal Assent.^[98] This Act released the LNC from those compulsory purchases of land which had been mandated by the 1852 HP Pavilion dv7-1157cl CPU Fan Act but had not yet been completed, easing the immediate financial burden.^[84] It also allowed a ten-year window for the LNC to sell certain parts of the land bought from Lord Onslow which were not required for the cemetery, to provide a source of income.^[84] Although the 1855 Act permitted the LNC to sell land, this proved difficult. HP COMPAQ NX9420 CPU Fan Of the 2,200-acre (3.4 sq mi; 8.9 km²) site, around 700 acres (1.1 sq mi; 2.8 km²) were occupied by the initial Necropolis site and the adjacent reserve site, and a further 200 acres (0.31 sq mi; 0.81 km²) retained their common land rights and could not be developed in any way, rendering them worthless to prospective buyers. HP Mini 110-1110ET CPU Fan While this left 1,300 acres (2.0 sq mi; 5.3 km²) theoretically able to be sold, the Brookwood site had been chosen for its remoteness and there were few prospective buyers.^[84] While 214 acres (0.33 sq mi; 0.87 km²) were bought by the government as sites for prisons and a lunatic asylum, the LNC struggled to sell the remainder. HP Pavilion dv7-1157cl CPU Fan By the time the ten-year window for land sales expired in 1865, only 346 acres (0.54 sq mi; 1.4 km²) had been sold.^[84] With the majority of the surplus lands still unsold, as the ten-year window expired the LNC successfully petitioned for a further five-year extension. HP Pavilion dv6-3163eo CPU Fan The LNC was by this time in serious financial difficulties, and dependent on loans from its own directors to settle outstanding debts.^[99] The business had been established on the basis that the cemetery would handle between 10,000 and 50,000 burials per year, but the number never exceeded 4,100 and over its first 20 years of operations averaged just 3,200. HP Pavilion dv9740us CPU Fan As the five-year extension expired the financial difficulties remained, and under pressure from shareholders theLondon Necropolis & National Mausoleum Amendment Act 1869 was passed. This removed all restrictions on land sales, other than within the existing cemetery and the adjacent reserve site.^[ ACER Aspire 4743 CPU Fan Despite the releasing of restrictions in the 1869 Act, land sales remained disappointing. By 1887 less than half the surplus land had been sold, much of it at very low prices. In December 1887 the LNC appointed Cyril Tubbs to supervise the LNC estate.^[83] Tubbs was given a broad remit to "advance the company's interests",HP Pavilion dv6-2170us CPU Fan including buying and selling land, supervising the railway stations, advertising the cemetery and liaising with the LSWR.^[83] Tubbs set about restructuring the design of Brookwood Cemetery to make it more appealing to mourners and visitors. The cemetery was divided into numbered sections, separated by an expanded network of avenues. Toshiba Satellite L675-S7018 CPU Fan These avenues were all named, and signposts were erected along them, to allow visitors easily to find their way around the sprawling Brookwood site, and to locate particular graves; the naming and numbering system devised by Tubbs has remained in use ever since.^[83] Tubbs established a masonry works and showroom near the centre of the cemetery, ASUS F80Q CPU Fan allowing the LNC to provide grave markers without the difficulty of shipping them from London,^[100] and opened a LNC-owned nursery in the grounds for the sale of plants and wreaths.^[83] This increased the practice of mourners planting flowers and shrubs around graves, ACER TravelMate 4200 CPU Fan which was in turn used by the LNC in their promotional material to promote Brookwood as a "Garden of Sleep".^[101] In around 1904 the masonry works was expanded and equipped with a siding from the railway branch line,^[102] allowing the LNC to sell its gravestones andfunerary art to cemeteries nationwide.^[103] HP 434678-001 CPU Fan Tubbs also oversaw a restructuring of the ailing programme to sell the LNC's surplus lands. The estate was partitioned into three sections, and separate estate agents appointed to oversee the disposal of each.^[104] Many of the lands near Woking railway station and around Brookwood were sold, at much higher prices than the LNC disposals had previously fetched. HP G70-120EA CPU Fan No suitable agent could be found to oversee the sale of the third portion of LNC land, Hook Heath, and as a consequence Tubbs kept it under LNC control and oversaw its development himself. Over the 1890s the site was subdivided into plots for large detached houses, and a golf course was built to attract residents and visitors. Toshiba Satellite A300-034 CPU Fan In August 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War, the LNC offered to donate to the War Office 1 acre (4,000 m²) of land "for the free interment of soldiers and sailors who have returned from the front wounded and may subsequently die". The offer was not taken up until 1917, when a section of the cemetery was set aside as Brookwood Military Cemetery, HP 606609-001 CPU Fan used for the burials of service personnel who died in the London District.^[103] In 1921 this area was sold to the Imperial War Graves Commission (later the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), and since then the military cemeteries have been administered and maintained by the IWGC/CWGC and its equivalents for other nations whose military are buried there.^[ Compaq Presario CQ60-301sl CPU Fan In September 1922 the LNC sold an area adjacent to the Military Cemetery to the US government. The LNC was hired by the US government to landscape this area and build a chapel, creating the American Military Cemetery (later the Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial), TOSHIBA Satellite L300 CPU Fan the only burial ground in Britain for US casualties of the First World War.^[109][110] Although built by the LNC, since 1923 the American Military Cemetery has been administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. After the Second World War the military cemeteries were extended to include dedicated sections for many of the Allied nations, ASUS Eee PC 701 CPU Fan and in 1958 theBrookwood Memorial, commemorating 3,500 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War with no known grave, was dedicated at the site.^[111] Between them, the military cemeteries occupy around 37 acres (150,000 m²) of the site.