Willesden Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery in Willesden, London

For the Liberal Jewish Cemetery, see Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden. For a list of burials, see List of people buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery.

Willesden Jewish Cemetery

The cemetery's prayer hall, designed by Nathan Solomon Joseph

Details
Established| 1873
Location|

Beaconsfield Road, Willesden (London Borough of Brent), London NW10 2JE

Country| England, United Kingdom
Type| Orthodox Jewish
Style| Victorian; English Gothic
Owned by| United Synagogue Burial Society
Size| about 8.5 hectares[1]
No. of graves| 29,800[2]
Website| Official website
Find a Grave| Willesden Jewish Cemetery

Listed Building – Grade II

Official name| Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery)
Designated| 4 September 2017
Reference no.| 1449184
House of Life project, Willesden Cemetery

Formation| 2015
Legal status| Registered charity
Purpose| To preserve the heritage of, increase accessibility to and increase biodiversity at Willesden Jewish Cemetery.
Headquarters| Willesden Jewish Cemetery

Head of Heritage

| Miriam Marson

Parent organization

| United Synagogue
Website| www.willesdenjewishcemetery.org.uk

The Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery, usually known as Willesden Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery at Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent, England. It opened in 1873 on a 20-acre (0.08 km2) site.[3] It has been described as the "Rolls-Royce" of London's Jewish cemeteries[4] and is designated Grade II on Historic England's Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[5] The cemetery, which has 29,800 graves,[2][nb 1] has many significant memorials and monuments. Four of them are listed at Grade II.[6][7][8][9] They include the tomb of Rosalind Franklin, who was a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.[8]

In 2015, the United Synagogue, which owns and manages the cemetery, was awarded a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund[10] to restore some key features of the cemetery and to create a visitor centre, a permanent exhibition and a web-based education project.[11][12] The cemetery's heritage project, House of Life,[13] officially opened up the cemetery to visitors on 7 September 2020:[14] it has a programme of public outreach events that have included walking tours,[15] an online literary festival ("Life Lines")[16] and an exhibition at Willesden Library.[17]

## History and heritage listing

[edit]

The cemetery, developed on ground purchased from All Souls College, Oxford, was opened in 1873,[18] three years after the United Synagogue was established by Act of Parliament. It was expanded in 1890, in 1906 and between 1925 and 1926. The cemetery and its funerary buildings, in English Gothic style, were designed by the architect Nathan Solomon Joseph (1834–1909).

In 2017 Historic England listed the cemetery at Grade II[19][20] on the grounds of: its being the first venture of the United Synagogue; its having associations with many influential families and individuals who are buried there; its overall design by a prominent Jewish architect; "the quality, opulence and variety displayed by the monuments as a group, reflecting both Jewish traditions and English influences"; and its survival – "the Old Cemetery remains intact, whilst the subsequent evolution of the cemetery is well-documented and legible".[21]

## War graves and listed war memorial

[edit]

The cemetery has 33 Commonwealth service war graves from World War I,[nb 2] six of which form a small group by the Assembly Hall,[22] and 77 from World War II, 22 of them grouped in a war graves plot. These include the grave of Dudley Joel (1904–1941), businessman and Conservative Party politician, who died in World War II.[23]

In place of a Cross of Sacrifice, a memorial designed by Ralph Hobday in the form of an obelisk was placed in 1961 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission opposite the World War II war graves plot.[24] It commemorates both world wars. Israel Brodie, the Chief Rabbi, consecrated the memorial, which was unveiled by Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer.[25] The first national Jewish war memorial in the United Kingdom, it is Grade II listed.[6]

## Other listed monuments

[edit]

Main article: List of people buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery

There are three other Grade II listed monuments at the cemetery:

* The tomb of Maximilian (Max) Eberstadt (1844–1891), who was secretary to the British merchant banker Ernest Cassel. His tomb was designed by Edward Burne-Jones.[7][26][27]
* The tomb of Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), a chemist and X-ray crystallographer, who was a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA[11][8]
* The tombs and burial enclosures of Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818–1874), a businessman and Liberal Party MP, his wife Juliana (1818–1874) and their daughter Hannah Primrose (1851–1890), who became Countess of Rosebery and a political hostess and philanthropist. Their tombs were housed in a mausoleum constructed in the 1890s, but this was destroyed by a Second World War bomb in 1941.[9]

* Cartoon of Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild

* Hannah, Countess of Rosebery, painted by Frederic, Lord Leighton

* Grave of Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery

## See also

[edit]

* List of people buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery
* United Synagogue
* Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden
* Willesden New Cemetery
* Jewish cemeteries in the London area

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ 23 members of the Rothschild family are buried in the cemetery.
Hinson, Tamara (15 October 2020). "A date with death: Why a visit to Willesden Jewish Cemetery is more uplifting than morbid". The Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
2. ^ Eight of the Commonwealth service war graves from World War I are soldiers who were from, or had a connection to, Australia.
Page, Beth. "Willesden – Brent: Willesden Jewish Cemetery". WW1 Australian soldiers & nurses who rest in the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "United Synagogue Willesden Cemetery". London Gardens Trust. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
2. ^ a b "Willesden Cemetery "House of Life"". United Synagogue. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
3. ^ "Willesden Cemetery". United Synagogue. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
4. ^ "New Listings Announced to Celebrate 70 Years of Protecting England's Historic Buildings". Historic England. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
5. ^ Historic England (4 September 2017). "Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery) (1449184)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
6. ^ a b Historic England (5 September 2017). "War Memorial, Willesden Jewish Cemetery (1449842)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
7. ^ a b Historic England (5 September 2017). "Tomb of Max Eberstadt, Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery) (1449845)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
8. ^ a b c Historic England (7 March 2017). "Tomb of Rosalind Franklin (1444176)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
9. ^ a b Historic England (5 September 2017). "Burial enclosures of Mayer, Juliana and Hannah Rothschild in Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery) (1449844)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
10. ^ "Willesden Jewish Cemetery 'House of Life'". National Lottery Heritage Fund. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
11. ^ a b "Historic cemetery to get £2m heritage facelift". The Jewish Chronicle. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
12. ^ Abrams, Hester (July 2017). "Project breathes life into Willesden cemetery" (PDF). Jewish Renaissance. p. 10. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
13. ^ "House of Life". Willesden Jewish Cemetery. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
14. ^ Oryszczuk, Stephen (7 September 2020). "Willesden Cemetery opens to day-visitors after Lottery-backed conservation". Jewish News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
15. ^ Keith, Lauren (3 November 2020). "This historic cemetery in London is now open to tours". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
16. ^ Johnson, Alex (2 September 2020). "London Cemetery to Host 'Life Lines' Virtual Literary Gathering". Fine Books and Collections. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
17. ^ Raffray, Nathalie (9 October 2019). "Exhibition to reveal secrets of the 'Rolls-Royce of Jewish Cemeteries' in Willesden". Brent & Kilburn Times. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
18. ^ "Inauguration of Jewish Cemetery". The Jewish Chronicle. 10 October 1873.
19. ^ "Lease of life for a Victorian cemetery". The Times. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
20. ^ Kennedy, Maev (7 August 2017). "Grade II-listed for 70th anniversary". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
21. ^ Historic England (1 August 2017). "Complex of Funerary Buildings at Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery) (1448718)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
22. ^ "Willesden Jewish Cemetery". British Jews in the First World War: We Were There Too. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
23. ^ "Lieutenant Joel, Dudley Jack Bernarto". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
24. ^ "Willesden Jewish Cemetery". Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
25. ^ Jewish memorial. British Movietone via YouTube (video). 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
26. ^ "Design for the Gravestone of Max Eberstadt". Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
27. ^ Banerjee, Jacqueline (21 November 2018). "Caricature – Line of Heads: Burne-Jones and Anti-Semitism". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 2 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Willesden Jewish Cemetery: "Life Lines"
* Jewish Museum London video about the cemetery

51°32′41″N 0°14′24″W﻿ / ﻿51.5447°N 0.2399°W﻿ / 51.5447; -0.2399

* v
* t
* e

Cemeteries and crematoria in London

The Magnificent Seven

* Abney Park
* Brompton
* Highgate East and West
* Kensal Green
* Burials
* Nunhead
* Tower Hamlets
* West Norwood

Other cemeteries

| Barnet|

* Bells Hill
* East Finchley
* Golders Green Jewish
* Great Northern
* New Southgate
* St Pancras and Islington

|

Brent|

* Willesden Jewish (Liberal)
* St Mary's Catholic
* Willesden Jewish (Orthodox)

Bromley

* Beckenham

Camden

* Hampstead

Croydon

* Croydon
* Queen's Road

Ealing

* Hanwell (Kensington's)
* Hanwell (Westminster's)

Enfield

* Enfield
* Southgate

Greenwich

* Charlton
* Greenwich
* Plumstead
* Woolwich

Haringey

* Tottenham

Hounslow

* Gunnersbury
* Isleworth

Islington

* Ball's Pond Road
* Bunhill Fields
* Trent Park

Lambeth

* Streatham Park

Lewisham

* Brockley and Ladywell
* Hither Green

Merton

* Morden

Newham

* City of London
* East London
* West Ham Jewish

Richmond

* Barnes
* Borough
* East Sheen
* Mortlake
* North Sheen
* Old Mortlake
* Richmond
* Teddington
* Twickenham
* Vineyard Passage

Southwark

* Camberwell

Tower Hamlets

* Novo

Waltham Forest

* St Patrick's Roman Catholic

Wandsworth

* Lambeth
* Putney Vale
* Streatham

Former cemeteries

* Cross Bones
* East Greenwich Pleasaunce
* Enon Chapel
* Huguenot Burial Site
* Quaker Gardens
* St Alban, Wood Street
* St Andrew
* St Antholin
* St Botolph's Aldgate
* St Dionis Backchurch
* St Matthew Friday Street
* St Helen's Bishopsgate
* St John Zachary
* St Katherine
* St Leonard, Eastcheap
* St Martin Outwich
* St Martin Pomary
* St Mary Aldermanbury
* St Mary Somerset
* St Mary Woolnoth
* St Mildred, Poultry
* St Olave, Old Jewry
* St Peter, Paul's Wharf
* St Sepulchre

Crematoria

* City of London
* Croydon
* Enfield
* Golders Green
* Mortlake
* Putney Vale
* South London
* West Norwood

Cemeteries are listed by location; some are owned/managed by other London borough councils.

* v
* t
* e

United Synagogue

Rabbis and
other prominent leaders|

| Living|

* Rabbi Jonathan Hughes
* Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis
* Rabbi Michael Plaskow

|

Historical|

* Rabbi Hermann Adler
* Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler
* Asher Asher
* Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie
* Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu
* Rabbi Joseph Hertz
* Rabbi Solomon Hirschell
* Rabbi Moses Hyamson
* Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits
* Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild
* Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Communities and
synagogues|

| Current|

* Brondesbury Park Synagogue
* Bury Hebrew Congregation
* Cardiff United Synagogue
* Giffnock Synagogue
* New West End Synagogue
* Princes Road Synagogue
* Richmond Synagogue
* Singers Hill Synagogue
* Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue
* Wembley United Synagogue

|

Historical|

* Bayswater Synagogue
* Blackpool United Hebrew Congregation
* Dalston Synagogue
* Dollis Hill Synagogue
* Great Synagogue of London
* Severn Street Synagogue

Cemeteries|

* Brady Street Cemetery
* Lauriston Road Cemetery
* West Ham Jewish Cemetery
* Willesden Jewish Cemetery

Schools|

* King Solomon High School
* Michael Sobell Sinai School

Organisation|

* London Beth Din

*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template