In 2015, the United Synagogue, which owns and manages the cemetery, was awarded a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund[10] to restore some key features of the cemetery and to create a visitor centre, a permanent exhibition and a web-based education project.[11][12] The cemetery's heritage project, House of Life,[13] officially opened up the cemetery to visitors on 7 September 2020:[14] it has a programme of public outreach events that have included walking tours,[15] an online literary festival ("Life Lines")[16] and an exhibition at Willesden Library.[17]
History and heritage listingedit
The cemetery, developed on ground purchased from All Souls College, Oxford, was opened in 1873,[18] three years after the United Synagogue was established by Act of Parliament. It was expanded in 1890, in 1906 and between 1925 and 1926. The cemetery and its funerary buildings, in English Gothic style, were designed by the architect Nathan Solomon Joseph (1834–1909).
In 2017 Historic Englandlisted the cemetery at Grade II[19][20] on the grounds of: its being the first venture of the United Synagogue; its having associations with many influential families and individuals who are buried there; its overall design by a prominent Jewish architect; "the quality, opulence and variety displayed by the monuments as a group, reflecting both Jewish traditions and English influences"; and its survival – "the Old Cemetery remains intact, whilst the subsequent evolution of the cemetery is well-documented and legible".[21]
War graves and listed war memorialedit
The cemetery has 33 Commonwealth service war graves from World War I,[nb 2] six of which form a small group by the Assembly Hall,[22] and 77 from World War II, 22 of them grouped in a war graves plot. These include the grave of Dudley Joel (1904–1941), businessman and Conservative Party politician, who died in World War II.[23]
There are three other Grade II listed monuments at the cemetery:
The tomb of Maximilian (Max) Eberstadt (1844–1891), who was secretary to the British merchant banker Ernest Cassel. His tomb was designed by Edward Burne-Jones.[7][26][27]
^23 members of the Rothschild family are buried in the cemetery. Hinson, Tamara (15 October 2020). "A date with death: Why a visit to Willesden Jewish Cemetery is more uplifting than morbid". The Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
^Eight of the Commonwealth service war graves from World War I are soldiers who were from, or had a connection to, Australia. Page, Beth. "Willesden – Brent: Willesden Jewish Cemetery". WW1 Australian soldiers & nurses who rest in the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
Referencesedit
^"United Synagogue Willesden Cemetery". London Gardens Trust. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
^ ab"Willesden Cemetery "House of Life"". United Synagogue. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
^ abHistoric England (5 September 2017). "Burial enclosures of Mayer, Juliana and Hannah Rothschild in Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery) (1449844)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
^ ab"Historic cemetery to get £2m heritage facelift". The Jewish Chronicle. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
^Abrams, Hester (July 2017). "Project breathes life into Willesden cemetery" (PDF). Jewish Renaissance. p. 10. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^"House of Life". Willesden Jewish Cemetery. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
^Oryszczuk, Stephen (7 September 2020). "Willesden Cemetery opens to day-visitors after Lottery-backed conservation". Jewish News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
^Keith, Lauren (3 November 2020). "This historic cemetery in London is now open to tours". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
^Johnson, Alex (2 September 2020). "London Cemetery to Host 'Life Lines' Virtual Literary Gathering". Fine Books and Collections. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
^Raffray, Nathalie (9 October 2019). "Exhibition to reveal secrets of the 'Rolls-Royce of Jewish Cemeteries' in Willesden". Brent & Kilburn Times. Retrieved 7 September 2020.