Cemetery Tour: Nunhead Cemetery

Nunhead Cemetery, near Peckham in South London is one of the great Victorian cemeteries in the London area, and certainly one of the most beautiful that I have visited.

I spent a whole day here in early spring, wandering the paths, getting totally lost and loving every minute of it. Nunhead has everything. One minute you are looking at a huge mausoleum, the next you are standing in a wildflower meadow dotted with tiny headstones both old and new.

Follow one path and you get so lost you think you are going to end up in Narnia, but when you emerge from the undergrowth you are overlooking an overgrown meadow of headstones and the whole of London, St Pauls winking at you in the distance.

Fresh flowers everywhere show that its still very much in use as a place of remembrance

And home to so much beautiful stonework.

And Quidditch players?

I think just about the only thing missing at Nunhead is a nice tea cart to sustain you during the hours you will lose meandering around the lost pathways that may or may not end up in Narnia. Have I found a niche in the market? A Cemetery Tea Cart? I'm trademarking it right here and now.

Nunhead is easily accessible by rail from Victoria station.  They have some quite good looking tours on throughout the Summer, and you can read more about the cemetery and events they have on by visiting the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery website.