Brookwood Cemetery

Client: Woking Borough Council

Landscape Architect: terra firma Landscape Architects

Cost: £440k

Location: Woking

Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey is a large and complex planned multi-denominational cemetery of international importance dating back to 1854, which provides a resting place for civilian and military remains. It was once the largest cemetery in the world, and remains the largest in the UK.

As part of the ongoing restoration, Blakedown Landscapes has completed the landscape works to previously contaminated land within the cemetery to create a beautiful new burial site and wetland area.

The new five and half acre site within the North Cemetery will be used predominantly for Muslim burials as other sites within the cemetery begin to reach capacity. It has space for 480 individual burial plots.

WORKS

Blakedown created a wetland by retaining the existing waterlogged area and increasing its biodiversity by encouraging natural colonisation of marginal aquatic flora. A raised boardwalk was constructed allowing site users to walk across the waterbody and experience the otherwise inaccessible natural environment close up. The needs of wheelchair users were taken into account, which included a series of wider platforms where two wheelchairs could pass. Benches were installed along the boardwalk for rest and in order that the area could be used as a reflective and contemplative space.

New planting included a number of unusual ornamental trees that were chosen for their symbolism and relevance to mourning and to resonate with the cemetery’s Victorian design. Native shrub and wildflower planting was chosen to enhance habitat biodiversity.

Naturalistic neutral grassland and acid grassland was used beneath existing retained trees and amenity grass to the flat spaces at the top of the landforms which created the two separate grassland areas. On the steeper slopes a native buffer of trees and shrubs was used, providing a degree of seclusion.

Grass bays which provided 30 new car parking spaces were formed with a reinforced grass system to provide a more natural solution. They were distributed in clusters along the length of the driveway and included planted margins to the rear to ensure visual separation between the parked cars and the burial areas.

Enabling works to facilitate more spacious access saw the construction of a new wider entranceway and the reduction of a planted island. The re-surfacing of the road included feature paving that referenced the historic railway that had once passed through the cemetery. Conservation edgings were laid flush and exactly 1.435mm apart, the same dimensions as standard gauge railway track.

SITE CHALLENGES

• The site remained open for burials and to the public

• There were a high number of mature trees and tree protection measures

• Working to a remediation strategy, carefully logging materials/imported materials

The project was a great success for the client and is now a well used and useable section of the cemetery.