Description
Edmonton Cemetery was set up by Edmonton Burial Board and laid out on land belonging to the Church Commissioners that was once used as an airfield. A straight drive from the entrance leads to the stone chapels and mortuary, which are linked by a carriage arch mounted with a spire. Sweeping drives curve away from the chapels and throughout the cemetery are numerous shrubs and fine trees, including Deodar, Lebanon cedar, Corsican pine, monkey puzzle, beech, lime and plane. The cemetery contains some good monuments dating from the mid C20th, including a granite monolith honouring those who died in the Blitz, and a stone screen commemorating people killed on 4 September 1938 when an aeroplane crashed into Dunholme Road.
Practical Information
| Site location | Church Street, Edmonton |
|---|---|
| Postcode | N9 |
| What3Words | ///cycle.modes.manage |
| Type of Site | Cemetery |
| Borough | Enfield |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 9am(M-Sat)/10am (Sun/BH) -4pm (Dec/Jan);-4.30pm (Nov/Feb); 5.30pm (Mar/Apr/Sep/Oct);-7pm/7.30 Sun/BHs (May-Aug). |
| Special Conditions | No cycling |
| Facilities | Toilets |
| Public Transport | Rail: Edmonton Green then bus. Bus: W8 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2000 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Edmonton Cemetery was set up by Edmonton Burial Board and laid out on land belonging to the Church Commissioners that was once used as an airfield. It remains a well-maintained garden cemetery with a spectacular entrance from Church Street through fine wrought iron gates that have a sunflower motif, on Portland stone piers. A straight drive across lawns backed by yew, laurel and miscellaneous flowering shrubs and dotted with laurels, fastigiate yews and specimen trees (Deodar, Lebanon Cedar, Laurels) leads to the apsed stone chapels and mortuary linked by a carriage arch mounted with a spire, which were built in 1886/87, set round with four Araucaria. Sweeping drives curve away from the chapels through Corsican pines, beeches, limes, planes and other trees.
The cemetery has some fine polished granite monuments dating from the mid C20th, a granite monolith to those killed in the Blitz, and a stone screen commemorating people who were killed on 4th September 1938 when an aeroplane crashed into Dunholme Road. The composer and bandmaster James Hume (d.1932) has a monument here. The low walls of the cemetery on Church Street have lost their railings, and an early C19th villa in the north-east corner is now the cemetery office with a Cedar in the garden.
The cemetery has some fine polished granite monuments dating from the mid C20th, a granite monolith to those killed in the Blitz, and a stone screen commemorating people who were killed on 4th September 1938 when an aeroplane crashed into Dunholme Road. The composer and bandmaster James Hume (d.1932) has a monument here. The low walls of the cemetery on Church Street have lost their railings, and an early C19th villa in the north-east corner is now the cemetery office with a Cedar in the garden.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ330940 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 11.8 |
| Site Ownership | LB Enfield |
| Site Management | Place Shaping and Enterprise, Cemeteries Registrar |
| Dates | 1884 |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Enfield |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Included in Local Register of Historic Parks and Gardens |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Bury Lodge Gardens is an ornamental public park laid out by Edmonton UDC between 1935-7 on the grounds of Bury Lodge, a house dating from medieval times, which was demolished in 1936. The Recreation Ground, which also took part of the grounds of the adjacent Salisbury House, was opened on 10 April 1937. The original layout, which is largely intact, had a rose garden planted with 4,700 roses with a central lily pond and pergolas, a sheltered retreat for the elderly, an open-air draughts board, and a pool for paddling and sailing model boats. There were also slides, swings and a merry-go-round, and grass plot for games. Along the southern boundary is Salmon's Brook and to the east, behind Salisbury House, is a bowling green.
Salisbury House is an early C17th timbered manor house, now used as an Arts Centre. The small garden in which it stands and the adjacent Bury Lodge Gardens are all that remain of its former grounds and the countryside that surrounded it, now largely built over by suburban housing. Until the C19th Salisbury House had a moat. It became a boys' school in the 1890s and from 1907 was owned by the Pratley family until 1935 when it was purchased by Edmonton UDC. Its future was most uncertain until 1957, when it was converted for use as an Arts Centre. At that point considerable works were carried out in both house and garden where removal of a large sycamore tree revealed a well that originally supplied water to the old kitchen cisterns; another well was discovered beneath a large beech tree.
Bush Hill Gardens is a small public garden laid out on land purchased by Enfield UDC in 1925. Planting and landscaping were completed in the autumn of 1928 after which the gardens were opened to the public. Near the entrances on Bush Hill Road a rock garden with pond and bridge was laid out. Much of the area was once part of the Old Park Estate, a Royal property pre-dating Enfield Chase, which was eventually broken up in 1871 and subsequently built over.