South Western Railway (SWR) and Network Rail have unveiled a new reflective garden at the entrance to the cemetery as part of its Railway 200 celebrations, marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway.
The new garden, created on a disused patch of land between the station and the cemetery, will be a place where lost railway colleagues and friends will be remembered. It features planters constructed from repurposed railway sleepers and a section of railway track which serves as a memorial to the London Necropolis Railway (LNR), Britain’s most unusual line.
Between 1854 and 1941, the LNR transported people on a one-way journey from a specially constructed terminus at Waterloo to their final resting place at the cemetery. Located 23 miles from London, it met the needs of the growing metropolis, where graveyards were at capacity.
Paula Aldridge, SWR’s Community Rail Manager and driving force behind the garden, said:
“It has been created through a fantastic collaboration between SWR contractors, Network Rail and Brookwood Cemetery who have transformed this once barren space into a place of reflection and remembrance for visitors to the cemetery.”
Content and images supplied by South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex
