Abney Park Cemetery Trust, Stoke Newington, London

This is an extraordinary, strange place - even for London. Sculptures, crosses, grave stones overwhelmed by power of nature. Shows how reality in centre of London may outrun a film set.

Hello, would really appreciate some help. My great grandfather Charles George Sadler is buried in Abney Park Cemetery, plot number 145039 section K10 75 11. He died October 10 1926 aged 45 and was buried 16 October 1926. If anybody visits regulary, could you find it in your heart to take a photo of the grave and email me on maggienoakes@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you so much for reading this, ill health prevents me from making the long trip over to London.
Regards
Maggie

Forget you are in Central London; this is a one-of-a-kind space - sacred ground saved from development - the woodland garden version of Per Lachaise. Maturing woodland, abundant birds and rays of sun on the classic monuments feed your soul anytime of the year. The Hoskins chapel is a classic, though decaying reminder of what was once the world’s first non-denominational burial ground.

No matter place in Stoke Newington to go for a walk to clear your head.

Strange I know, but myself and my other half love visiting old victorian cemeteries.

This one is on Stoke Newington Church Street and I am sure a lot of the people eating and drinking at all the trendy bars and restaurants in Stoke Newington do not know of its existence. That is a shame because it is a very interesting place to visit.

It is quite a large cemetery with several paths through it. A lot of the graves have become very overgrown with moss and weeds but it is still possible to read some of the headstones which can be interesting.

I find a lot of the victorian monuments fascinating if over the top and could spend hours looking around.

It is also a good place to walk your dog - just make sure you clean up after it.

This is an old Victorian cemetery in the heart of Stoke Newington, which has become heavily wooded, overgrown and full of wildlife. It’s full of foxes, birds, squirrels and brambles.

A series of paths criss-cross the grounds between an entrance on Stoke Newington Church Street and the main entrance on Stoke Newington High St (where it meets the bottom of Stamford Hill). But you can easily do a circular walk from either entrance without fear of getting lost, if you stick to the main path.

It’s not that big, but large enough to stretch your legs and feel like you’ve got away from the hustle and bustle of London life. I did avoid it for several years, as it can feel a bit spooky wandering around here by yourself and you do spot the odd dodgy looking person. (It did used to have a reputation for cruising, and I don’t know if that’s still the case but I suspect it is a bit!)

But I have walked through here a couple of times this year, just to stretch my legs and get some fresh air and it feels pretty safe in daylight hours. There seem to be plenty of people passing through. And if you feel at all insecure about walking through woods by yourself – take a friend!

It’s well, you know, nice. And interesting if you like that sort of thing. And I do. It’s very, umm, Victorian, you might find it a little morbid, all that death and everything but it’s pretty. And much bigger than I’d expected. You should definitely go. And if, like me you go mid week, early in the morning, you’ll have the place to yourself. But wear wellies, those damn cyclist have turned the paths in to a quagmire. You know what it reminded me of? A scene in Sherlock Holmes or some other period drama like that. It’s very atmospheric. But I think, well, the thing I liked about it was how peaceful it is. And it’s such a nice contrast to Clissold Park that is so open… it’s a warren of overgrowth with these carved monoliths and winged angels peeping through. Gosh, we are so lucky in Stoke Newington, to have all this open space and greenery I mean.

Walking along the Stoke Newington high street, you can easily overlook the entrance to this amazing old cemetery. It is open to public and free to enter. The cemetery is rather large and in semi-derelict state. The main paths are cleared and safe to walk, but the rest of the grounds are rather overgrown, making it hard to reach some of the more interesting graves. Vast majority of headstones are very old and venerable, giving the place a wonderful aura of mystery. You will find yourself reading the dates and wondering about the lives of the people buried there. It gives the whole area the feeling of history and passage of time. It is a wonderful place to contemplate, provided you don’t come across a group of drunks congregating at various spots. Drunks and cemeteries, they seem to go hand in hand it seems..
Opposite the main entrance you will notice a headstone of William Booth, a founder of Salvation Army, as well as his wife.
From there on, you’ll loose track of time, admiring the old graves of more or less prominent people who were buried there.
If you ever find yourself in the area, make sure you visit this overlooked historical gem.

I just read in another review of this cemetery that it is the largest wooded area within the confines of London’s Zone 2 area. Very interesting.
It is magical this place, if a little strange.
It’s web site is very well developed with pages full of informtation and activities, particularly for children.
I find the reality a bit different to the web page.
I mean, I would never, ever, ever let my kid go and play in here unsupervised. (That’s if I had one - which I don’t) Encourntering the undead would be the very least of their problems.
It is a largish park - it takes me about 10 mins to jog around it’s perimiter at a moderate pace.
It was abandaned as a cemetary some 21 years ago and judging by the dates on the graves, was in use for a few hundred years prior to that.
Trees and bushes have grown over the graves - a few of which are still tended by loved ones but mostly they are become beautiful moss covered artifacts.
Several trails are well used and well maintained by the council, and the entrance from Stoke Newington high street is edged with impressive gates that open to a path bordered with lushous green grass.
There are many other trails, social trails, that are kept open through the passage of visitors. These lead in asymetrical directions, easily confusing the uninitiated.
The central feature is a metal grate secured, abandoned gothic chapel, with a significant and impressive spire. Inside can be seen dirt and the refuse left by the last gentleman who inhabited it.
These bums, and I use the word with the affection of a reader who counts Mac and the boys of Cannery Row fame as both role models and hero’s, are the main inhabitants of the cemetery.
You live here for a while and you get to know them, by site if not by name. The one with the guitar being a particular stand out. He found some strings for it a month or so back and now I fall asleep to the sounds of him and his friends singing, as well as the usual fights and drunken mutual admiration sessions.
More sinister, at least to my imagination, is the groups of men that are always loitering quietly as I run past. They look equally nervous and confronting and they are always ducking down those hidden paths or seeming to keep a look out. I have no idea what they are up to - if anything - but it’s such a hidden envrionment and they are the ones I would keep my child from.

This is one of the great treasures of zone 2, the largest wooded area in central london. Difficult to believe that Hackney council was going to build on it in the 70s. They have got rid of all the public toilets so it’s not too difficult. It’s worth just exploring, there’s a chapel hidden in the middle, one of those places where they kept coffins briefly i think. The only down side to the place is that if you spend a long time here, you are inevitably faced with the necessity to go to the loo, and the temptation to do so in the surrounding bushes is somewhat overwhelming. Just check there’s nothing more solid underfoot if you know what i mean.

a cemetery is not your regular visitor ‘attraction’, but London boasts a few historic and charming cemeteries, one of which is Abney Park Cemetery just off Stoke Newington Church Street (another is Highgate cemetery which is architecturally renowned and is the final resting place of the likes of Henry Moore and Radcliffe Hall). While Abney Park does not have the reputed architectural cachet of Highgate it has its own striking architecture all situated within a site that has a lovely garden feel … the stones lie higledy piggedly amongst trees, planting and overgrown shrubs … it has a really friendly and intimate charm with paths winding through the cemetery. In the centre there is a church/chapel, now a little derelict on the inside but magnificent and imposing on the outside. The cemetery is used a lot by those that live in and around Stokey … it makes a scenic cut through from the high street to Church street or purely a fascinating and interesting stroll on a Sunday afternoon.

I am reviewing a cemetery because this cemetery is amazing. It's pretty historic, and is extremely atmospheric. It's off Stoke Newington's trendy Church Street, which is a popular area for eating, drinking and shopping, and there are usually lots of people walking through here, and looking at the old Victorian headstones, including some really incredible ones. The whole place is totally overgrown with greenery. Also, there are lots of famous historical figures buried here, including lots of people involved in the abolition of slavery. A good alternative walking spot.