Abney Park Cemetery Trust — Attraction in London

SIxty years ago when I was just 4 my Mum gave birth to a still born baby. In those days they took the baby away immediately. No time to cuddle the baby lost, no time to see the baby, to say goodbye, to grieve. My Mum has carried that silent heartbreak. She doubted did she hear the baby cry, did the baby die, was the baby taken for experiments as my Mum had rare blood and the cause of the baby not surviving. In her dreams and life churning these doubts over. When my Father passed away amongst his paperwork we found the receipt for the babies burial, just a £1. I had tried to find where the baby had been layed to rest but with no luck. Now my Mum approaching 84 I thought I woukd try one last time. I called Abney Park Cemetery as the baby had been born in the now demolished Mothers Hospital. At the end of the telephone line was the most carrying, kind, interested man called John. Unbelievably he said he felt he could help us find the baby. He found the baby in the records. Then he walked around the cemetery until he found our baby Not even a head stone but he found her. What an incredibly beautiful thing to do for my Mum. John met us at the gate of the cemetery and took us to the little grave where my Mum found peace in her heart. We now have a place to go to honour our baby. We have named a star after her. Gratitude is not enough to express how we feel about the kindness of John and how beautiful the resting place is for the baby Abney...

Abney Park is situated a short walk from Stoke Newington station. The park was sadly neglected until the 1970s when the park rediscovered, and thanks to the help of local volunteers, it was given a new lease of life.

The park sits in the grounds of two former homes, one belonging to Sir Isaac Watts, a notable non-conformist and writer of poetry and hymns such as joy to the world, and the other Abney House.

The land was originally landscaped as an arboretum, but in the 1830s, new legislation meant the land had to be requisitioned and used to bury the dead of victorian England.

The park contains the graves of many notable people, including William Booth founder of the Salvation Army, performers from the music hall era, a nurse who worked alongside Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, and the last resting place of those lost in the first world war.

Thanks to a dedicated team, many parts of the cemetery have been restored, including the chapel, which on my last visit was dilapidated but is functioning once again.

Finally, the cemetery is also a recognised nature reserve, and many species of flora and fauna...

One of the most sumptuously atmospheric and aesthetically pleasing cemeteries ever developed. More like walking through a forested gothic art gallery. Named after Sir Thomas Abney whose house once stood here. Abney was a leading nonconformist and Mayor of London 1700 - 1701.His house-mate for 30yrs was Dr Isaac Watts the hymn writer. A monument to Watts stands where the house once stood. 30acres opened 1840, was refused consecration as over 30percent buried were dissenters. The Egyptian lodges, entrance gates and gothic Chapel were designed by William Hoskins. In 1843 it was described as "One of the most complete arboretums in the neighbourhood of London". William Booth founder of the Salvation Army is one of it's many residents. Take a picnic and a camera! Nearest tube is...