A short walk around London Waterloo station and around Brookwood Cemetery
The London Necropolis Railway is quite an unusual railway, built to take the deceased and their mourners from London to a large cemetery outside the city just beyond Woking. As London sprawled outwards many small churchyards were built over with the coming of the railways and other infrastructure for the expanding city, bodies would have to be exhumed and reburied in another churchyard. It was thought at the time that London would never expand beyond Woking and like a Roman Necropolis it would stand as a vast cemetery outside the city in which much of the population would be buried.
The railway consisted of it's own terminus adjacent to Waterloo station and a short branch within the cemetery at Brookwood. Between London and Brookwood the trains would run along the mainline of the London and South Western Railway. The Necropolis Company had various deals in place with the LSWR covering the operation of trains, provision of locomotives, fares charged, e.t.c. They were also able to negotiate quite beneficial terms when the original Necropolis station in London had to be demolished so that Waterloo station could be expanded.
Much more information about the Necropolis Railway can be found on the Wikipedia article
Google Map
1914 Map
Much of the second station at the London end survives, despite it having been a WW2 air raid here that put the Necropolis Railway out of action. Built at the expense of the LSWR to replace the earlier station it had the Necropolis Company offices above an archway that lead to a covered driveway to lifts up to the platform level. The office building on Waterloo Bridge Road still survives with the entrance that once led to the lifts still visible. Behind the building apparently the canopy over the driveway is gone and there are just the staircases of a fire exit where the lifts would have been. At platform level is a siding for parking engineering trains which can be seen when approaching Waterloo on train.
Below - The former Necropolis Railway offices and terminal building
Below - The driveway under the offices that once led to the lifts up to platform level.
Between London Waterloo and Brookwood the trains used the same mainline that took travellers between London and the south west so much of the journey can still be made on train.
Below - The mainline station at Brookwood. When the cemetery was first built in 1854 there was no station here, the station was added ten years later later to cater for visitors to the cemetery as well as the commuters as housing was built nearby. This station was rebuilt in 1903 when the mainline became quadruple track.
Below - The platforms of Brookwood station. The connection to the cemetery railway was just beyond the platform on the left. Where the trees are on the right was the bay platform for the Bisley Camp branch line, this connected to the National Rifle Association's range and nearby military bases. From Bisley Camp further narrow gauge lines connected various sites around the ranges.
Below - The former exit from the station direct to the cemetery which would have allowed visitors arriving on mainline trains easy access to the cemetery. Unfortunately now with modern ticket barriers on the main entrance there is a gate over the cemetery exit and a long walk around to the cemetery's main entrance on Cemetery Pales.
Below - The back of Brookwood station, the track into the cemetery ran across the grassed area. Originally a run round loop wasn't provided, on arrival the carriages would be detached from the loco and taken in to the cemetery by horses, a method of working felt to be more fitting. The loco would be repositioned on to the London end of the train when it was returned by the horses. A run round loop was added in 1864 when the first station was built and from then the loco propelled the train in to the cemetery, running round prior to return to London.
Below - A memorial to the cemetery railway was made at the back of Brookwood station in the form of a panel of track and a plaque, this has become quite overgrown though.
Below - The former trackbed is on a slight embankment for much of the journey and is easily found in the trees close to the mainline station.
Below - Where the line crossed Long Avenue a stretch of the trackbed has become a roadway known as Railway Avenue. Remains of the platform of the North Station can be seen. This part of the Cemetery was used for Non-Comformist buriels and North Station would be used for anything but Anglican ceremonies.
Below - A photo of the North Station from the Wikipedia article above. The wooden buildings formed a horseshoe shape around a courtyard on the platform. Note the dip in the platform for unloading coffins from the lowermost racks on the carriages.
Below - Further along Railway Avenue. When cemetery was built the roads and railway were lined with rows of Giant Sequoia trees, the first major planting of these American trees in the UK. The neat rows of now very tall trees can still be found either side of the former railway.
Below - Approaching the site of the level crossing on Cemetery Pales. The design of the paving has presumably been done as a nod to the former railway. The main road through the cemetery also provided the boundary between the Non-Comformist and Anglican sections of the cemetery.
Below - The complex of buildings on the south side of Cemetery Pales. Originally there was a stone mason's yard here which was provided with a siding. Also there was a water tower so that the loco could take water while the service was taking place and save having to stop for water on the return to London.
Below - South of the former stone mason's yard one of the graveyards is now encroaching on the former railway.
Below - The destinct embankment between the rows of Giant Sequoia trees.
Below - Looking towards the South station, one of the chapels close to South station can be seen.
Below - Close to the former South station an information board about the railway has been provided.
Below - The former South station provided for Anglican services. The platform survives but the building on the platform is a more modern building, the former station site now serving as a monestery. The original buildings survived for many years to store coffins and as a refreshment room but were destroyed by a fire in 1972.
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