Woolwich, London (In Kent until 1889)
Woolwich Old Cemetery, Plumstead, London
History
Woolwich Old Cemetery, which is actually in Plumstead, was built as a result of the churchyard of the Woolwich Parish Church of St Mary Magdelen becoming full up. In his Records of Woolwich and District, W T Vincent writes -
"The beautiful burial-ground which fronts the King's Highway on the eastern slope of Plumstead Common was opened as a cemetery on January 3rd 1856, in pursuance of a poll taken a year earlier. It was consecrated on the ecclesiastical side by the Bishop of Oxford, the whole having been purchased and laid out at a cost of £6,200, raised by a loan repayable in twenty years."
"The ground, consisting of nearly twelve acres, was practically absorbed in thirty years. In that period 25,517 burials took place in the cemetery, and it became necessary to obtain more space. Accordingly, taking time by the forelock, a vestry meeting was called on 21st December 1883, and sanction obtained without a poll to purchase twenty acres of land adjacent. The cost of this, with the laying out and building a wall round both the enclosures, was estimated at £14,000. This also has been raised by loan, and the new ground (Woolwich New Cemetery) was opened on the 23rd of December 1885, on which date the church portion was consecrated by the Bishop of Rochester."
The cemetery was divided into sections, and within each section the graves round the edge were designated as first class and those in the middle of the sections as third class.
There was a non-conformist burial area at the lower (King's Highway) end of the cemetery, and old maps show that there was a second chapel there.
In the 1980s, the council wrote to all known grave owners to ask for permission to remove the memorial stones, presumably to make maintenance easier. The memorials belonging to those who agreed, and I suspect those who did not reply or were untraceable, were removed and some of the headstones placed along the eastern boundary wall. There is still some space in existing graves, but burials now are very rare.
Family Grave Site
On 2nd December 1901 Samuel Abbott purchased, in perpetuity, a third class grave, ten feet in depth for five persons at plot I128, to bury his wife Clara Ann Abbott, née Scarlett. The grave now also contains the bodies of, in order of burial, Samuel Abbott, Frederick Treacher, Ivy Isabelle Treacher and Rose Ellen Treacher, née Abbott
When Gran wanted to bury Granddad in the grave she had to get permission from her older brother, Bill, and to take over ownership of the plot. It is presumably still held in her name.
In the plan, on which the King's Highway entrance is on the right, the grave is 48 feet from the junction of sections D, E, H and I, and 16 feet from the path between sections H and I. In the photograph, the site is roughly in the middle.
When I was a child, I used to go with Gran, to help her tend the grave. It had, as far as I can remember, a simple stone surround with two stone flower pots, one of which carried the name, Ivy. The stonework was made by W.E. Smith, who had a workshop just by the entrance in King's Highway. There was a water cistern nearby and a few watering cans, but these are long gone.
Vincent said that it was a beautiful site, and it still is, with its simple but pretty church and many mature trees, including two splendid copper beeches. (There used to be three, but the third succumbed, I think, to Honey Fungus, and a smaller one is now growing near by.) The church is still used for burials in the new cemetery. The Vincent family headstone is still standing.
Other photos -
The Princess Alice Memorial
Just south of the family grave stands a memorial to all those who died in the Princess Alice tragedy.
On the evening of 3rd September 1878, the pleasure steamer Princess Alice, carrying about 700 people, was returning from a day trip on the Thames to Southend, when she was struck near Woolwich by the colliery ship, Bywell Castle. About 550 of those on board were drowned. Many of the victims are buried in the cemetery near to the family grave.
W.T.Vincent, in his book Records of Woolwich and District, gives a lengthy description of the tragedy abridged from the reports he filed as a reporter for the Kentish Independent newspaper.
The tragedy has not been forgotton, because in 2003, the 125th anniversary of the disaster, a wreath was laid on the memorial by Greenwich Council.
Here is the text on the memorial -
On the base of the cross -
North Side - To the memory of those who perished this cross was erected by a national sixpenny subscription, to which more than 23000 persons contributed.
West Side - The saloon steamer "Princess Alice", returning from a pleasure excursion, was wrecked off Tripcock Point by collision with the steam collier Bywell Castle on the night of September 3rd 1878.
South Side - It was computed that seven hundred men women and children were on board. Of these about 550 were drowned. One hundred and twenty were buried near this place.
East Side - "In the midst of life we are in death" Jesu Mercy
Round circle at top -
West Side - In Christ Shall All Be Made Alive
East Side - I Am The Resurrection And The Life