Tottenham Park Cemetery

Tottenham Park Cemetery is a small (2.4 hectares) burial ground in Edmonton, in the London Borough of Enfield. It was opened in 1912 by the Tottenham Park Cemetery Company, and originally used as a paupers' cemetery. Currently, it is owned by Badgehurst Environmental Holdings (who also manage Woodgrange Cemetery, Manor Park, London), and used primarily for Muslim burials.^[1] The "Friends of Tottenham Park Cemetery" was established in the early 1990s, and is a registered charity.^[2]

Chapel

The cemetery contains a small brick Gothic chapel, which is derelict and in a state of considerable disrepair.^[3] Architecturally, it is of a similar style to the chapels at the South London Crematorium, Streatham Cemetery and Surbiton Cemetery, all of which were designed by John Bannen.^[4]

Desecration

According to a report in the London Evening News of 2 November 1968:

On the night of Halloween 1968 a graveyard desecration by persons unknown occurred at Tottenham Park Cemetery in London. These persons arranged flowers taken from graves in circular patterns with arrows of blooms pointing to a new grave, which was uncovered. A coffin was opened and the body inside "disturbed". But their most macabre act was driving an iron stake in form a cross though the lid and into the breast of the corpse.

Though the identities and motivations of those responsible were never ascertained, general consensus at the time linked the desecration to events surrounding the Highgate Vampire case.^[5]

Sources

• Webb C, revised ed. of Wolfston, P, Greater London Cemeteries and Crematoria, Society of Genealogists, 3rd ed. 1994;
• Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons, 'London Cemeteries, An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer', 4th edition (The History Press, 2008);
• The Paul Drury Partnership for LB Enfield, 'Montagu Road Cemeteries Conservation Area Character Appraisal', 2006

References

Coordinates: 51°37′18″N 0°03′03″W / 51.6216°N 0.0509°W / 51.6216; -0.0509