The City of London Cemetery is where you will find the resting place of Jack the Ripper victims Mary Nichols and Catherine Eddowes. Guided tours are available and the cemetery is included in the Jack the Ripper heritage trail. The City of London Cemetery makes for an interesting Halloween excursion or a way to appreciate a Grade I listed landscape in the heart of bustling East London that has been in operation since 1856.
Visit to the City of London Cemetery and its History
The cemetery first opened in 1856 and spans over 200 acres. This makes it one of the biggest cemeteries in Europe. There are over 150,000 graves on site with some of the most famous belonging to Jack the Ripper victims Mary Nichols and Catherine Eddowes, although both graves have since been reused. Instead, you can now find memorial plaques dedicated to the two women instead.
The funeral of Catherine Eddowes, Ripper’s fourth victim, was so well attended, policemen had no choice but to redirect traffic away from the cemetery!
Why take a Visit to the City of London Cemetery?
For some visiting a cemetery might seem a morbid thing to do. For us, I will admit, the primary reason for our visit was to do something spooky for Halloween. We did see some pretty old and impressive graves and catacombs!
However, unexpectedly, it turned into something a bit more meaningful.
It became a way for us and the kids to remember our own losses. A chance for the kids to speak openly about the baby we lost. We speak quite openly about our experiences as a family unit and I suppose this was a nice way for them to connect the dots.
We also saw some lovely monuments to forgotten churches and people who aided the upkeep and growth of the cemetery. It’s social history of the local area at its best!
Address
To begin your visit to the City of London Cemetery go to: Aldersbrook Road, Manor Park, London, E12 5DQ​.
It is located next to Wanstead Flats, with the main entrance on Aldersbrook Road.
The cemetery is open 7 days a week and entrance is free.
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