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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

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

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. 

location

Address

East End Road
London
N2 0XH
United Kingdom

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. 

Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Enquiries

Contact name
Parks team
[email protected]

Published: 25 January 2021

Last updated: 1 March 2021