New Southgate Cemetery

 New Southgate cemetery

Opened 1861

After the closure of the burial grounds in London in the 1850’s it was decided to establish new cemeteries further out from the center of London. The cemeteries Act of 1847 allow the creation of new cemeteries and plans were fast track through parliament to help with the overcrowding in the inner city. The New Southgate cemetery was built because of this act and the location was chosen because of its easy access to the railway line.

The Colney Hatch Company acquired a piece of land that was only one mile from Colney Hatch station now renamed New Southgate station. The station is only seven miles away from central London being on the Great Northern Railway's main line. Leaving Kings Cross station the journey only took 15 minutes to reach the new cemetery. This was an ideal location for the the newly formed company which was help by the act of Parliament.

The Great Northern London Cemetery Company was formed as a joint venture between The Great Northern Railway Company and the Colney Hatch Company in 1859 with the intention of providing a cheap and convenient burial service to Londoner's. A new siding with a separate station was built just north of Kings Cross Station situated next to Maiden Lane now York way. The station included a steeple and Gothic arches built above a retaining wall near the railway line. It also had a morgue which was intended to stop Londoner's keeping the deceased at home which was very unhygienic. The coffin's would be lowered by a mechanical device to the track below then brought to a particular spot for its reception. On the day of the funeral instead of the a long drawn out lugubrious street procession the funeral party would be conveyed by train to the cemetery. At Colney Hatch there was a similar specially built siding adjacent to the cemetery. This service was available from 1861 and for a short time special funeral trains would run, about twice a week from Kings Cross to Colney Hatch stations. The service only lasted for about a decade, the exact date that the service ceased is unknown but it was between 1867 and 1873.

The company aimed at the lower end of the market charging six shillings to carry the coffin to the cemetery and 10 to 11 shillings for the burial plus 1s 6d for the return fare for each mourner it work out to be a much cheap option than other services offered at the time. Why did the the service end? I think it was due to the fact that people found that it was to far for them to visit their loves. This would have been fine for some people but not for others. As a poor person you would not have enough money to travel up to New Southgate every week or every month to visit you love ones. At the time people people would have been glad that their love ones were getting a good burial and in they're grief not thinking of the long term visiting or the cost that it would entail. This is why I think the service gradually became unfashionable and eventually ended in the years I mention earlier.