Press Releases by Brookwood Cemetery
29
September 2102: The London Requiem
Further to our
earlier posting, the Premiere of
Benjamin Till's The London Requiem took place in the grounds of Abney
Park Cemetery on the evening of 29 September 2012. You can see a video of
the full performance here
(approx. 50 minutes long). Further videos which explain the inspiration behind
each movement can be seen here,
with the section on Brookwood
featured here.
Brookwood Military Cemetery Open Days
The
Commonwealth War Graves Commission is arranging two Open Days in the Brookwood
Military Cemetery on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 September, 10am to 4pm each day.
For further details please visit
http://www.cwgc.org/
1 August
2012: The London Requiem
 The
London Requiem is a new piece of classical music composed by
Benjamin Till in 10 movements. The music was written largely in
graveyards and cemeteries around London and is inspired by quotations found
on memorials there. It takes the traditional Latin text as its basis and
augments it with quotations found on the gravestones.
One of the quotations used in the Requiem comes from Brookwood Cemetery. We
will update this site with further information about the Requiem, leading up
to its first public performance in Abney Park Cemetery on 29 September.
The clip you can view from the above link refers to the 1st Movement - the
Introit - and includes a short film about the whole project.
18 July
2012: Great British Islam
 This
documentary tells the little-known story of three English gentlemen who embraced
Islam at a time when to be a Muslim was to be seen to be a traitor to your
country. Through personal journeys of still surviving relatives, the programme
looks at their achievements and how their legacy lives on today.
The programme was
first shown on BBC1 on 18
July and was available on the i-player for 7 days. We do not know if there
are plans to repeat it.
 June
2012: New Signage for the Chelsea Hospital Plots
In association with
the Royal Hospital Chelsea, new signs have been erected on the
"old plot" (plot 54) and on the new
burial ground behind the Canadian
Military Cemetery.
We hope these will
assist visitors to the cemetery. The sign for the old plot is shown here.
27 March
2012: Fire in Brookwood Cemetery
 There
was a heath fire in part of Brookwood
Cemetery on 27 March. Only a limited section of the cemetery was
affected, in an area near plots 55 and 56 beyond All Hallows Avenue. The
majority of the fire was centred on the adjoining heathland.
We would
like to reassure anyone concerned about family memorials that it is largely
the turf that has been fire damaged. As far as we can tell no memorials have
been damaged. The Daily Telegraph website has posted
a short video showing the fire which clearly indicates how little of the
cemetery was affected.
December
2011: New Cemetery Sign
 In
December the old cemetery sign facing the main railway line off plot 102 was
fully restored. This included the construction of a replacement metal frame
along with new lettering.
The sign reads
"Brookwood Cemetery / Estd. 1852" and is designed to be seen from passing
trains, as was the original.
11 December
2011: Funeral of Lieutenant David Boyce
 The
burial of Lieutenant David Boyce of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards took place
on 11 December.
Lieutenant Boyce was killed alongside
Corporal Richard Scanlon on 17 November when their armoured vehicle struck a
makeshift bomb in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Following a funeral service held in Bath
Abbey on 7 December, Lieutenant Boyce's ashes were buried at Brookwood. You can read the official
Ministry of Defence communique,
the
coverage of his death from the
BBC Website and the
Daily Telegraph.
Pilgrimage Stroll Against Poverty: 15 October 2011
This year's Pilgrimage Stroll Against Poverty
took place on
15 October. Organised as part of the
UN
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Tish Mason of the
Surrey
Heath Coalition Against Poverty arranged another group visit to the pauper burial
areas of the cemetery.
Tim Dodds,
Mayor of Surrey Heath, also attended the stroll. The group visited part of the
pauper burial sections before moving on to the
Cemetery Chapel for
short service to remember those who live and die in poverty across the world.
As in previous years the purpose of the visit is to remember those who died in
poverty, to show solidarity with people living in poverty, and to find out how
to help those in poverty. The Brookwood Cemetery Society supported
the event by providing refreshments before and after the walk, and having its
sales and information stand open. After the walk, participants were invited to a
Creative Workshop for families at the
Frimhurst Family House,
Guildford Road, Frimley Green.
There is an
Audioboo interview with Jason French on the UN Day to End Poverty, and an Audioboo
interview with
John Clarke on the pauper burial areas,
18
September 2011: Celebrating Age Concern Woking's 5th Anniversary
On Sunday 18
September Brookwood played host to
Age Concern Woking's 5th anniversary. Around 100 people, including local
councillors, clients and sponsors attended the celebration, along with some of
the charity's volunteers. Age Concern Woking offers services to help improve the
lives of older people. It supports older people who are isolated or have no
family to offer them support.
17
September 2011: London's Necropolis: A Perfect Place of Peace
On Saturday 17
September the Association
of Garden Trusts and the
Surrey Gardens Trust arranged a study day at Brookwood. The main part of the
day took place in the Brookwood Memorial Hall. Three main themes were explored
by guest speakers in the morning sessions: "The Evolution of the English
Cemetery landscape" by Jonathan Lovie; "Sepulchres and Statues; Criteria for
Listing of Cemetery Monuments" by Roger Bowdler; and "The Landscape of Brookwood
Cemetery" by John Clarke. Following lunch the planned extended tour of the
cemetery was curtailed due to heavy rain.
10 June
2011: Funeral of Maqbool Fida Husain
The funeral of
Maqbool Fida
Husain took place on 10 June 2011. Following a funeral service in London, he
was buried in one of the muslim community plots at Brookwood. Widely known as
"The Picasso of India" or simply "MF", he left India in 2006 and divided his
time between Qatar and London. He is mourned in India and by artists all over
the world.
11 May
2011: Visit by Representatives of the Johor Government of Malaysia
We welcomed members of the Johor
Government of Malaysia on 11 May 2011. The visit was arranged by Haji Dzul
Karnain Asmawi of the Johor Heritage Foundation as part of a research visit to
London. He was accompanied by 13 Johor Officials, headed by the Johor Heritage
and Cultural Minister, arriving at the cemetery at 10 o'clock. Accompanied by
cemetery owner Erkin Guney and Historical Consultant John Clarke, the group
visited the old Muslim burial ground and in particular visited the graves of
three eminent Johoreans, including the grave of
Dato Abdul Rahman Andak.
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