City of London Cemetery - Tree Trail and Memorials
It's a beautiful cemetery, very large and full of fascinating trees. It has various areas - from traditional graves to a rose garden full of dedications, and from a modern mediterranean style columbarium, to a natural woodland burial area.
Famous residents include two of Jack the Ripper's victims, and Bobby Moore.
If you want to follow the tree trail, just ask as you enter the grounds for a booklet, they are full of photos and descriptions and amazingly are given out for free.
There are 68 photos, so please be patient while they load!
 View fullsize Firstly, the well-trimmed yew near the entrance. | |
 View fullsize Then a Coast Redwood - we had to clamber among the undergrowth to see its bright, spongey bark. |
 View fullsize Looking up... and up... |
 View fullsize The most lavish of all memorials is this huge marble tribute to a sailor who died in Mombasa at the age of 20. | |
 View fullsize Covered urns are a popular theme among the memorials... |
 View fullsize ...as are obelisks, and broken columns, which represent life snapped off too soon. |
 View fullsize A general view through the graveyard. |
 View fullsize Our second tree, the Causcasian Wing Nut. Unfortunately the "wingnut" dangling seeds were not photographed clearly. |
 View fullsize An Oriental Plane. The more durable and commonly seen London Plane is a hybrid of this, and the Occidental Plane. |
 View fullsize A Deodar. There were quite a cluster of trees so it wasn't possible to photograph it from further away. |
 View fullsize A glorious purple beech. | |
 View fullsize Looking down an avenue of graves. |
 View fullsize There are many different avenues each featuring a different tree. |
 View fullsize At the bottom of the grounds stands this oak, estimated to be between 800 and 1000 years old. See how it dwarfs the bench beneath it! | |
 View fullsize In fact its trunk is as wide as a bench for three people! |
 View fullsize Five of the FARA members - Mike, Joyce, Liz, Will and Jennifer. |
 View fullsize View of the oak from behind. What an amazing tree, and looking so healthy! It was a little early for acorns - unfortunately all of last year's were turned into knopper galls by wasps. I'd love to grow a baby version. | |
 View fullsize Another part of the grounds contains this memorial wall, for those who lost their lives in the Second World War, specifically at Bethnal Green (where there was a huge loss of life at the tube station) and Stepney. One panel is for the police officers who died. | |
 View fullsize The memorial wall is surrounded by pendulate trees, known as "weeping" varieties - a nice touch which is very resonant with mourning. | |
 View fullsize A weeping birch and pendulate variegated yellow holly. I seem to remember being told it was called Jacob's Holly but can't find anything online to support this. | |
 View fullsize One of my favourite trees - a Brewer's Weeping Spruce. The photo doesn't do it justice because the light was wrong. | |
 View fullsize Seeing how the branches hang down. They were heavy, like thick curtains. |
 View fullsize One of the long cones which grow near the top of the tree. |
 View fullsize There was a section of modern tributes to children. This one stood out for its unusual shape. I dislike its style, but I suppose it's appropriate. | |
 View fullsize I noticed a ladybird climbing over a rock... |
 View fullsize Then I stepped back to look at the rock... |
 View fullsize It was a very interesting, and tactile, tribute. | |
 View fullsize I like the simplicity of these headstones from the 1860s, among the oldest in the cemetery. If you read them, you will see that the families are related. | |
 View fullsize I thought this angel stood out - then I walked a few feet further forward and found another just like it! It seemed that different monuments were in vogue at different times. | |
 View fullsize Back to the trees - here's a Catalpa, commonly known as Indian Bean Tree. Up close, you could soon see why, with the "beans" hanging from it. | |
 View fullsize Jane breaks open a fallen pod (while clutching the glossy tree trail brochure!) | |
 View fullsize Jennifer shows the small seeds inside. |
 View fullsize Close up of the beans, how unusual! |
 View fullsize General view, looking across from under the Catalpa. | |
 View fullsize Another general view - with FARA members walking between the trees. | |
 View fullsize I love these small sculpted trees. They remind me of extras from Doctor Who! | |
 View fullsize We discovered this large pond... |
 View fullsize ...which had turtles swimming in it! |
 View fullsize Just one water lily was blooming. |
 View fullsize The fish were as big as the turtles. |
 View fullsize We went to the rose gardens, in search of Bobby Moore's memorial. Apparently on match days it is marked by flags and so on. But it wasn't a match day, so we didn't find him amid all the names on plaques at ground level. | |
 View fullsize Meep - a wasps' nest in the roof of a shelter. We didn't stay there long! |
 View fullsize Another area of the rose garden. I was using a scooter to get around, so this provided a slalom! |
 View fullsize A child's drawing for his late father. I felt that I had invaded a private moment. | |
 View fullsize What a fantastic false acacia! It really caught your eye as you passed. | |
 View fullsize Another general tree shot. |
 View fullsize Squirrel on the ground under a Blue Atlas Cedar. |
 View fullsize The ladies investigate this feathery shrub. |
 View fullsize I preferred this Japanese Maple. |
 View fullsize The cemetery and crematorium are still in use, and so there is an area where floral tributes are laid out after a funeral. |
 View fullsize Another shady avenue. |
 View fullsize This small stone caught my eye. The person named died in 1916 aged 39, which was during the First World War. I liked the simplicity of the tribute. | |
 View fullsize The modern columbarium, with space to put the urn behind the nameplate. Some of the front plates bore photos, which felt a bit too creepy for my liking! | |
 View fullsize Many gorgeous memorials like this one were attacked by green triangles. | |
 View fullsize As you can see, the older and unvisited graves are being targetted for reclamation so the land can be reused. | |
 View fullsize Some of the graves had fallen into disrepair but many still bore attractive and striking monuments. |
 View fullsize How sad to think that all of these graves, over 100 years old, will soon be reclaimed, reused and their older occupants forgotten. |
 View fullsize Looking down the road to the church. | |
 View fullsize Another lovely yew, allowed to maintain its natural shape. Yews are often found in graveyards and churchyards as they represent eternal life. They were also used by archers as wood for their bows. | |
 View fullsize From a distance I spotted this tree. I'm guessing it's a cherry. | |
 View fullsize Some of the new memorials being erected, which jar with the older gravestones remaining behind them. I can understand the need to reuse the land, but surely it should be done in keeping with the style of the existing tributes. For goodness sake, a stone guitar? And gold on a black heart? | |
 View fullsize A Monkey Puzzle Tree, spotted as we made our way back to the entrance. We also saw a green woodpecker flying past, but I couldn't get a photo. | |
 View fullsize Two young Liquidambars, coming into their autumn colour. | |
 View fullsize Everyone (bar me) back at the entrance, after nearly three hours of wandering! We definitely earned that cuppa! | |
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