location
Address
East End Road
London
N2 0XH
United Kingdom
East Finchley Cemetery
Opening times and venue information.
Opening times
Originally called St. Marylebone Cemetery, it was formerly managed by St Marylebone Borough Council. It later became the responsibility of the City of Westminster following the local government reorganisation in 1965.
The name formally changed to East Finchley when the Westminster City Council reacquired the cemetery in the early 1990s.
View a plan of the cemetery:
Document
East Finchley Cemetery landscape plan
PDF, 252.64 KB, 1 page
Opening hours
| November to February | March to October | |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 8:30am to 4:30pm |
8:30am to 6pm |
| Saturdays, Sunday and public holidays | 11am to 4pm | 11am to 6pm |
| Chapels Monday to Friday | 9am to 4.30pm |
Venue notes
Green Flag accreditation
East Finchley cemetery won its first Green Flag in 2007 and subsequently in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Read the Green Flag judging criteria.
See the management plan:
Document
East Finchley Cemetery management plan
PDF, 2.25 MB, 95 pages
Standards at this cemetery are impeccable and it is worth noting that East Finchley was also voted cemetery of the year in 2007.
Parks management
The cemetery is managed by the Parks Service in conjunction with contractors - Continental Landscapes Ltd.
Contact the Parks Service or cemeteries management by telephone 020 8567 0913 or fax 020 8579 1750.
History
The 47 acres of land comprising East Finchley Cemetery, formerly known as Newmarket farm, were purchased by the St. Marylebone Burial Board in 1854 for the creation of the cemetery. The architects for the cemetery were Barnet and Birch Ltd., who submitted a design for a cemetery in a competition in January 1854 and began their project in May that year. The 2 Cedar of Lebanon trees were planted on the front lawn in 1856.
Up to the present date over 22,000 private grave spaces have been dug within the cemetery with a limited number still available for sale.
Chronology
| Date | Events |
|---|---|
| January 1854 | Architects Barnet and Birch win competition to design new cemetery |
| 1854 | St. Marylebone Burial Board purchase the 47 acres of land that comprised Newmarket farm. |
| 13 March 1855 | Bishop of London consecrates cemetery. |
| 14 March 1855 | First interment in new cemetery. |
| 1856 | Cedars of Lebanon were planted on the front lawn. |
| 1937 | Opening of the Crematorium by Councillor G.B. Ramsay. |
| 1965 | The cemetery was transferred to the City of Westminster under the local Government re-organization. |
Famous names and memorials of special Interest
| Name | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sir Henry Bishop | Professor of Music at Oxford and operatic composer |
| Leopold Stokowski | Conductor |
| Sir Robert Harmsworth | Newspaper publisher - Lutyen's Memorial |
| Lord Northcliffe | Founder of the Daily Mail |
| Thomas Skarratt Hall | Australian colonist |
| Sir Joseph Chamberlain | Brother of Neville Chamberlain |
| Sir George Hayter | Queen Victoria's principal painter in ordinary. |
| Algernon Borthwick 1st Baron | Glenesk - Memorial chapel and Mausoleum |
| Thomas Henry Huxley | Man of science |
| Heath Robinson | Artist, cartoonist specialising in complicated designs |
Soldier's Corner
On Remembrance Avenue there is a small plot of military graves administered by the Commonwealth Graves Commission.
Enquiries
Contact name
Parks team
Published: 25 January 2021
Last updated: 1 March 2021