Entering Streatham Park Cemetery from Rowan Road you will see the cemetery office in front of you with the South London Crematorium to the right. You can't fail to notice some imposing and austere mausolea too.
Originally the cemetery office was an Anglican chapel. There was also a Roman Catholic chapel and a cemetery lodge but these have been demolished. There are a selection of gardens of remembrance inside the gate which form a more crowded area before you enter the main cemetery which seems much more spacious and wide open to the sky.
Streatham Park Cemetery was planned in 1890 as the Great Southern Cemetery to match the Great Northern Cemetery opened in Southgate in 1861. It spans 25.5 hectares and up until World War II accounted for twenty per cent of all burials in South London. The South London Crematorium opened in 1936 after a long delay. Plans had been afoot to build it since 1913 but were greatly delayed by World War I.
The cemetery is laid out as a grid. There is a dedicated Jewish section and a Moslem cemetery. On the right hand side as you walk down the main field there is a long row of grand vaults where many Italians are laid to rest.
Wandering through the rose garden you will see the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cross of sacrifice in front of you. This honours servicemen of both world wars. Behind it is a large screen wall dedicated to 123 servicemen of World War II who were cremated here, all are inscribed by name. As you walk around the cemetery you will also find several individual war graves dotted about.
The cemetery has a long association with the Artistes Benevolent Fund and two hundred variety artistes were buried here between 1921 and 1944.
A walk in the cemetery is a peaceful and contemplative experience especially if you enjoy the panorama of an unobstructed sky. I was in search of my Nana who is buried here. Unfortunately Nana Crees did not achieve the peaceful eternal rest that was planned as her part of the cemetery has been subjected to some re-landscaping. Nana now lies under what I can only describe as a pile of builders' spoil and the inevitable weeds that quickly colonise such areas. Luckily my Nan was a stoic woman who took what life dealt her on the chin, and I doubt she would be bothered too much.
Notes by Trudy Kuhn
