Hither Green Cemetery
Hither Green Cemetery, opened as Lee Cemetery in 1873, is a large cemetery located on Verdant Lane, London, England. The cemetery is situated between Catford, Hither Green, Downham, Grove Park and Lee, located adjacent to a railway line, and close to Grove Park Sidings and Grove Park Nature Reserve. Next to Hither Green Cemetery is Lewisham Crematorium that was opened in 1956.
| Hither Green Cemetery | |
|---|---|
Hither Green Cemetery | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1873 |
| Location | Verdant Lane, Grove Park, Lewisham, southeast London |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°26′11″N 0°0′39″E |
| Owned by | Lewisham Council |
| Size | 15 hectares (37 acres) |
| Find a Grave | Hither Green Cemetery |
The cemetery was designed by Francis Thorne and included two Gothic chapels – one Anglican, one for dissenters (the Dissenters' Chapel, built by William Webster, was for people belonging to nonconformist, i.e.: non-Anglican, churches) – and ornamental entrance gates. The original gate lodge was demolished.
When the cemetery opened in 1873, it was named Lee Cemetery, although Lee's church and centre are about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) to the north of the cemetery, the land was covered by the Lee civil Parish at the time. The original cemetery occupied what is now the northernmost part of the cemetery, located on a road named Hither Green Lane, but was renamed Verdant Lane later. The cemetery expanded into a much larger southward, into lands previously occupied by the fields of a farm named Shroefield Farm.