BROMPTON CEMETERY Four self-guided walks THE TOP 100 Welcome to Brompton Cemetery Plenty to discover - Want to sit beneath a spectacular tree, discover a The Top 100 remarkable story or remember a loved one? The cemetery You could spend a lifetime is the perfect place to enjoy exploring here! a moment of peace among Stroll down the tree-lined With 39 acres of cemetery to explore, magnificent monuments. Central Avenue to reach the chapel. we’ve put together four self-led tours to get you started. Each tour is A breath of fresh air designed to take around an hour to It’s much more than a well- Look out for complete, and we’ve put these into loved last resting place for many playwright A tip for easy-to-follow themes. You’ll see a thousands of people. The cemetery Henry ‘A c e m e t e r y identifying range of memorials giving you an Pettitt’s is a welcome green space in the trees is to insight into who is buried here. unusual can, and should, look our for city that’s alive with wildlife. memorial on the shape of You will also get to learn more It’s also stacked full of stories the Central be made as the leaves. about our wonderful buildings and about amazing people and Avenue. These leaves our beautiful trees. belong to awesome monuments. And it’s still beautiful the Holm As you make your way around working – you can be buried here if Over 200,000 people are Oak. the tours, look out for our top 100 you want! buried in the cemetery, as possible.’ marked by around markers on the ground next to or It’s easy to explore 35,000 monuments. Henry Milner near to the points of interest we’ve landscape gardener, 1890 chosen. If at any point you see a You’re welcome to explore, and number that isn’t part of your tour, it’s easy to find your way around. use our complete top 100 list on the The cemetery is flat and all the You’ll also see the Big Leaf Maple, whose next page to find out more. cross-paths lead back to the leaves can grow up to 30cm wide and turn a golden yellow in autumn. For your own safety, we ask you to Central Avenue. You can also stay on the maintained footpaths see the chapel from most points. and to avoid uneven ground. There’s a map in this leaflet to help you. You can find lots more information on our website, by talking to our friendly volunteers or by taking a guided tour. 2 3 The Top 100 The Top 25 Garden Cemetery Heroes & Pioneers Creative Characters 1. Dr John Snow 26. The North Lodge 48. Jack Whitley 76. Sir Squire & Lady Effie Bancroft 2. Emmeline Pankhurst 27. London Plane 49. Dr Benjamin Golding 77. Henry Pettitt 3. Chelsea Pensioners Monument 28. Albert Emile Schloss 50. Capt Hugh Burgoyne VC 78. Richard Tauber 4. Elizabeth le Blond 29. Big Leaf Maple 51. Col Richard Wadeson VC 79. George Borrow 5. The Central Avenue 30. Jugoi Nagayori Asano 52. Iris Burnside 80. William Terriss 6. Yew Tree 31. Strawberry Tree 53. James McDonald 81. Bernard Levin 7. Sir Henry Cole 32. Holly Tree 54. Cpl Joseph John Farmer VC 82. Brian Glover 8. Brigade of Guards Monument 33. Philip Nowell 55. John Wisden 83. Alfred Mellon 9. Joseph Bonomi 34. James Veitch Junior 56. Herbert Fitch 84. Frederic Sullivan 10. Hannah Courtoy 35. Susannah Nutkins 57. Frederic Jardine 85. Henrietta Moraes 11. Frederick Leyland 36. Horace Lot Brass 58. Percy Pilcher 86. George Godwin 12. John ‘Gentleman’ Jackson 37. Joseph Julius Kanné 59. Henry Augustus ‘Gus’ Mears 87. Valentine Prinsep 13. Reginald Warneford VC 38. The Western Catacombs 60. Sir William Crookes 88. Adelaide Neilson 14. The Catacombs 39. Rowan Tree 61. Barbe Maria Theresa Sangiorgi 89. George Henty 15. The Great Circle 40. Robert Fortune 62. Pte Samuel Parkes VC 90. Ernest Thesiger 16. Chief Long Wolf 41. Snake Bark Maple 63. Thomas Hay Ritchie 91. Sir William Howard Russell 17. Marchesa Luisa Casati 42. Cedar of Lebanon 64. Sir John Peake Knight 92. Fanny Brawne 18. James Bohee 43. Copper Beech 65. Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth 93. Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris 19. Metropolitan Anthony 44. Weeping Silver Lime 66. Sir Samuel Cunard 94. Violet Brooke-Hunt 20. Princess Victoria Gouramma 45. Holm Oak 67. Sir Roderick Impey Murchison 95. Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale 21. Emma Shaw 46. Henrietta Dredge 68. Adm Sir Charles Howe Fremantle 96. Lionel Monckton 22. The Chapel 47. Elias Huelin 69. James Hayes Raper 97. Catharina Pratten 23. Percy Lambert 70. Lt Col Henry Le Blanc 98. Blanche Roosevelt Macchetta 24. Robert Coombes 71. Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 99. George Salting 25. Constant Lambert 72. Lt William Hulme Hooper 100. Lady Sydney Morgan 73. Samuel Leigh Sotheby 74. Sir John Fowler 75. Margaret McCurrey 4 5 The Top 25 1 Dr John Snow 2 Emmeline 1813-1858 Pankhurst 1 1858-1928 There’s so much to discover Father of Modern about the cemetery’s people, Epidemiology. ‘Deeds not words.’ 3 2 places and wildlife. With several miles of leafy paths, 600 trees and A physician and pioneer of The Suffragette leader who 4 35,000 monuments to explore, anaesthetics, who saved millions of campaigned for women’s right to you’re sure to find something new lives by discovering that cholera was vote, and was imprisoned for her every time. spread via infected drinking water. beliefs. Some women were given 5 His monument was damaged by a the vote in 1918, but Emmeline died To give you a head start, 6 7 bomb in World War II and replaced before equal voting rights were given we’ve picked our top twenty five by fellow physicians. to all. Her monument is a Celtic Cross. fascinating people and places to 8 visit. You should easily be able to stroll around these in an hour. 9 10 3 Chelsea What else will you spot along the way? 11 Pensioners ‘I owe a supreme Monument 12 1901 debt of gratitude ‘Erected on behalf of an admiring to the mountains nation.’ 13 for knocking from A poignant memorial to 2,625 retired 14 British Army soldiers buried between me the shackles of 1854 and 1893. They lived at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which has conventionality…’ been housing veterans for over 300 Elizabeth le Blond years. It features flags, cannon balls A group of Chelsea Pensioners in 15 and bronze lions’ heads. the Hall at the Royal Hospital. 16 17 Long Wolf with his wife, Wants, 18 and their children. When the Native Americans were sent 19 4 Elizabeth 5 The Central back to their reservations at 20 le Blond Avenue the end of each season of the 22 21 Wild West Show, they were 1860-1934 1840 given civilian clothes. (See p.10) 23 ‘The best-known ‘A great ceremonial woman mountain drive running along 24 climber of her time.’ the central axis.’ A soulful angel watches over the The cemetery began as a private 25 grave of thrice-married Lizzie, an business in 1840 and needed to Irish baronet’s daughter. Despite her attract customers. The architect ill health, she became a pioneer of made the flat site more attractive mountain climbing, photography and with this elegant avenue, leading to film-making, and founded the Ladies’ a domed chapel. The row of original Alpine Club. lime trees adds to the grandeur. 6 7 6 Yew Tree 7 Sir Henry Cole 11 Frederick ‘Loves to dwell 1808-1882 Leyland Regency boxing midst skulls and ‘King Cole’, the most 1831-1892 ‘brought together coffins, epitaphs influential man in Patron of the and worms.’ South Kensington. avant-garde. the King and the This evergreen species lives so A modest memorial for a man we Leyland made his fortune as a ship Commons, the wealthy long that it’s become a symbol of have to thank for everything from owner, and then spent it on collecting and the poor, the nobles everlasting life. It’s often found in the V&A Museum to Christmas artworks and supporting artists. burial grounds, and branches were cards. Cole was a journalist, writer, His stunningly ornate stone and and the plebs.’ once carried at funerals. The needles designer, reformer and campaigner, copper monument was designed by J.C. Reid and seeds are poisonous, but birds who turned South Kensington into a Edward Burne-Jones, the renowned feast on the seed caps’ red flesh. centre for arts and science. Pre-Raphaelite artist. 8 Brigade of 9 Joseph 12 John 13 Reginald Guards Monument Bonomi ‘Gentleman’ Warneford VC 1889 1796-1878 Jackson 1891-1915 1769-1845 The heart of the cemetery’s Buried ‘beneath a guardian Bodyguard at King George IV’s One of the cemetery’s infantry section. Anubis’, protector of graves. coronation. 12 Victoria Cross holders. This elegant cross guards a field of The hieroglyphics on Bonomi’s A brooding lion tops the striking This talented young pilot’s monument white headstones, marking some distinctive headstone reflect his life memorial to Jackson, bare-knuckle illustrates the moment in 1915 when of the thousands of military burials as an artist, drawing and illustrating prize fighter and self-defence he became the first airman to shoot here. The four brass field guns that Egyptian archaeology. It also records teacher. He had a formidable down a German airship. Tragically, once stood around it were removed the terrible loss of all four of his reputation and was hugely popular; he died just 10 days later while trying in World War II – some believed they young children in the same week to so much so that his monument was out a new plane.