Description
Plaistow Cemetery was set up by the Burial Board in 1892 and opened in 1893, the second oldest cemetery in Bromley. It has a simple layout with at the entrance a massive ragstone lodge over the drive and an Early English style chapel both designed by local architect W R Mallett. The cemetery has a grid of straight paths, the main one running north to south from the entrance lodge, past the chapel, to a turning circle at the far end; the remaining paths are narrower. On its east side it abuts King's Meadow. There are a number of mature trees, including Scots pine and some specimen trees along the main avenue.
Practical Information
| Site location | Burnt Ash Lane, Bromley |
|---|---|
| Postcode | BR1 5AF |
| What3Words | ///broad.lively.drove |
| Type of Site | Cemetery |
| Borough | Bromley |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | Daily 10am-4pm (October-March)/ 10am-7pm (April-September). Chapel only open for funeral services. |
| Public Transport | Rail: Sundridge Park. Bus: 126, 261, 336 |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2007 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Plaistow Cemetery was set up by the Burial Board in 1892 and opened in 1893, the second oldest cemetery in Bromley. The land for the cemetery was provided by Lady Scott of Sundridge Park, later Lady Farquhar, and her first husband, Sir Edward Scott, were great benefactors of St Mary's Church Plaistow (q.v.). Plaistow Cemetery has a simple layout with at the entrance a massive ragstone lodge over the drive and an Early English style chapel, both designed by W R Mallett, a local Bromley architect who was responsible for much work on St Mary's Church Plaistow. The cemetery has a grid of straight paths, the main one running north to south from the entrance lodge, past the chapel, to a turning circle at the far end; the remaining paths are narrower, for pedestrian use. The chapel is at the end of the enclosed part of the Avenue, with lawn and two small rose beds adjacent, and from here the cemetery opens out to the west.
The cemetery abuts King's Meadow on its east side and the boundary here consists of lapboard fence and modern metal railings of 2005/6. There are a number of mature trees, including Scots pine and some specimen trees along the main avenue, including silver birch and flowering cherry and a young gingko. A row of four small-leaved lime trees and Leylandii mark the southern boundary, with mixed shrubbery and hedging on west and north boundaries.
Among those buried here are Joseph Johnson, Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Belfast (1839-1906); James Laidlaw (1836-1921), pioneer missionary of the English Presbyterian Church in Formosa (now Taiwan); Roger Yelverton (1845-1912), Chief Justice of the Bahamas and 'Chairman of the League of Criminal Appeal by whose agitation a Court of Appeal has been secured' [in 1907]'. There are 34 Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves here in the south-west corner and other graves to service personnel. In the north part of the cemetery is an unusual large headstone to the family of E and A Neumayer (1915-48), and another grave of local interest is that of Samuel Cawston (1843-1919) and family of Bromley Hill. Cawston bought the Bromley Hill house and land that had belonged to Lord and Lady Farnborough and after 1881 he 'speedily developed the land for building purposes'; by 1929 'a network of roads and villas had replaced the gardens, the wooded glades and the spring-shores of the past' (E L S Horsburgh, p.246). Today Bromley Hill is the Bromley Court Hotel. The cemetery was designed to take 3443 graves and is now full, used only for burials in existing graves.
Bromley's cemeteries have been managed on behalf of Bromley Council by idverde UK since 2008. In June 2015 idverde was contracted by Bromley Council for the management of the borough's parks, green spaces and countryside service, a relationship that was extended in April 2019 for a further 16 years.
The cemetery abuts King's Meadow on its east side and the boundary here consists of lapboard fence and modern metal railings of 2005/6. There are a number of mature trees, including Scots pine and some specimen trees along the main avenue, including silver birch and flowering cherry and a young gingko. A row of four small-leaved lime trees and Leylandii mark the southern boundary, with mixed shrubbery and hedging on west and north boundaries.
Among those buried here are Joseph Johnson, Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Belfast (1839-1906); James Laidlaw (1836-1921), pioneer missionary of the English Presbyterian Church in Formosa (now Taiwan); Roger Yelverton (1845-1912), Chief Justice of the Bahamas and 'Chairman of the League of Criminal Appeal by whose agitation a Court of Appeal has been secured' [in 1907]'. There are 34 Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves here in the south-west corner and other graves to service personnel. In the north part of the cemetery is an unusual large headstone to the family of E and A Neumayer (1915-48), and another grave of local interest is that of Samuel Cawston (1843-1919) and family of Bromley Hill. Cawston bought the Bromley Hill house and land that had belonged to Lord and Lady Farnborough and after 1881 he 'speedily developed the land for building purposes'; by 1929 'a network of roads and villas had replaced the gardens, the wooded glades and the spring-shores of the past' (E L S Horsburgh, p.246). Today Bromley Hill is the Bromley Court Hotel. The cemetery was designed to take 3443 graves and is now full, used only for burials in existing graves.
Bromley's cemeteries have been managed on behalf of Bromley Council by idverde UK since 2008. In June 2015 idverde was contracted by Bromley Council for the management of the borough's parks, green spaces and countryside service, a relationship that was extended in April 2019 for a further 16 years.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ405707 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 1.62 |
| Site Ownership | LB Bromley |
| Site Management | Cemeteries Office (contracted to idverde) |
| Dates | 1892/3 |
| 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 | Bromley |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
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
Until the 1860s, the Plaistow area was rural, with three large houses to the north. Development began after the arrival of the railway and the need for a church arose to serve the population north of Bromley. A square site was procured in 1861 and a simple Chapel of Ease was built, consecrated in 1863; the church was enlarged in 1881-1900. A church primary school was built to the west, and a vicarage to the south. The churchyard, closed for burials in 1893, has gravestones mainly in the south and east, with a Garden of Remembrance to the west. The original eastern boundary was moved back in 1931 when the road was widened.
London Road Cemetery is the oldest of Bromley's cemeteries and opened in 1877, laid out by architect George Truefitt, whose two ragstone chapels connected by a porte-cochère and a mortuary remain, although his lodge has since been rebuilt. The layout has cruciform drives with a central circular area, and the planting includes Cedars, Scots pine and other conifers with later flowering 'cemetery trees'.
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Sundridge Park was a country estate surrounded on 3 sides by woodland. In 1793 the then owner Edward George Lind sought the advice of Humphry Repton, who recommended re-siting the house and forming the surrounding farmland into a park. His advice was followed by the subsequent owner Claude Scott, who also appointed John Nash to build his new mansion. Although little of the earlier landscaping survives, there are remains of the C18th ha-ha that separated the pleasure grounds and park. Scott's son Samuel inherited the estate in 1830; a keen horticulturalist, he instigated various changes including building an elaborate conservatory, and the creation of Pulhamite rockwork features (now gone). The estate was eventually sold in the early C20th and what remains of the former land is now in divided ownership. Part of the parkland became a private golf club in 1901, and the mansion and immediate grounds were converted as a hotel, and later as a management training centre in the 1950s. The terrace garden by the house was redesigned by Rosemary Verey in 1992.
Sundridge Park was a country estate surrounded on 3 sides by woodland. In 1793 the then owner Edward George Lind sought the advice of Humphry Repton, who recommended re-siting the house and forming the surrounding farmland into a park. His advice was followed by the subsequent owner Claude Scott, who also appointed John Nash to build his new mansion. Although little of the earlier landscaping survives, there are remains of the C18th ha-ha that separated the pleasure grounds and park. Scott's son Samuel inherited the estate in 1830; a keen horticulturalist, he instigated various changes including building an elaborate conservatory, and the creation of Pulhamite rockwork features (now gone). The estate was eventually sold in the early C20th and what remains of the former land is now in divided ownership. Part of the parkland became a private golf club in 1901, and the mansion and immediate grounds were converted as a hotel, and later as a management training centre in the 1950s. The terrace garden by the house was redesigned by Rosemary Verey in 1992.