Brookwood Main (civilian) Cemetery

[NigelS]

News today (31 July 20) that Woking Borough Council (WBC) is to continue with its  ongoing improvement works at  Brookwood Cemetery with the intention of, in the longer term, making into a 'major heritage destination' Click

 

The adjacent military cemeteries (both are on land which was originally part of the main cemetery) , although included in Historic England's - Parks & Gardens Grade I listing for the area (both also have monuments which are individually listed on their own merits),  don't come within the proposals, with the comment made: 

The Military Cemetery is excluded because it is administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the American Battle Monuments. These military cemeteries are separate to, and outside of, the management remit of the civilian Brookwood Cemetery owned by Woking Borough Council. Allies and Morrison have, however, consulted with both the CWGC and the ABM as significant neighbours of Brookwood Cemetery. There is ongoing collaboration between Brookwood Cemetery and the Military Cemetery in relation to aspirations for the cemetery as a whole, to open days and potential future shared events.

 

The main cemetery as well as having graves & monuments commemorating  many historical figures from the last 160+ years,  also has a number for military & former military personnel - some well known, some not -  from the same timescale including the burials of at least 12 known VC holders (with further three commemorated), according to the CWGC, nearly 200 scattered burials from WW1 & WWII, and  the original Chelsea Pensioners' plot (more recent burials are in a 'new' plot forming part of the CWGC cemetery.)

 

Although a long term project and, in terms of heritage, it will clearly never be another Stonehenge, if these proposals do come to fruition and are completed in the same spirit as the restoration of the nearby former Muslim military cemetery  at Woking (another project in which WBC were heavily involved), this is likely to  be good thing for visitors to both the main & Military cemeteries.

 

NigelS