Brompton Cemetery Conservation Project
Key information
The Brompton Cemetery Conservation Project
From 2015-18 we undertook the Brompton Cemetery Conservation Project, a £6.2million investment helping to restore Benjamin Baud’s original design while protecting and safeguarding the cemetery for future generations.
Conserving Brompton Cemetery
Before the project the condition of the cemetery had deteriorated, especially the colonnades and catacombs which were on Historic England’s buildings ‘at-risk’ register. There was a risk that the chapel would end up on the register too if vital conservation work wasn’t carried out. We secured £4.5M ‘Parks for People’ funding from the National Lottery Heritage and Community Funds, invested a further £1.2M ourselves, while an additional £500,000 was secured through fundraising and with the help of the Friends of Brompton Cemetery.
Conservation project achievements
- The restoration of the majestic chapel, central colonnades and catacombs, including improvements to the Grade II* listed Chapel that saw the leaking lead roof replaced and accessibility improvements to allow wheelchair users to visit the chapel.
- Conservation of the historic landscape and refreshed design where new planting reflects the species introduced by famous ‘plant hunters’ buried at Brompton, among them Robert Fortune.
- Conservation works on 15 historic memorials, including the Grade II listed tomb of Albert Mellon and the Central Colonnades.
- Extensive conservation works designed to maintain and improve vital and varied habitats around the cemetery.
- Welcoming the community by converting and slightly extending the North Lodge creating a café and public toilets, offices for the Friends of Brompton Cemetery and an information centre featuring a meeting room, and accessible toilet.
- Development of a volunteering programme to help conserve and enhance the natural environment of the cemetery, placing it firmly in the heart of the local community as a local green space.
- Around 500 volunteers took part in the project. A wide-ranging digital information project, bringing the cemetery to life for visitors, who can browse interactive aerial views of the cemetery and explore a mobile-friendly burials database.
- Boosting education with innovative in-person events and digital information, as well as providing apprentice training.
- Installation of a range of interpretation boards throughout the cemetery, bringing its history to life.
- An improved funerary service, aiming to give the cemetery financial sustainability. Brompton Cemetery is as much for the living as for the dead.
It welcomes the community, provides a hub for volunteering and training, and is a place of relaxation for all visitors – while still being a working cemetery. It is architecturally astonishing, full of magnificent sculptures, monuments and buildings, set in a beautiful landscape.
History comes alive in this marvellous communal green space, set in the heart of a densely populated part of London. The project would not have been possible without the generous support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Friends of Brompton Cemetery.