Friends of West Norwood Cemetery

Registered Charity No. 1063450. Member of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends

FRIENDS OF WEST NORWOOD CEMETERY

FOWNC Events 2008

To increase knowledge and appreciation of the Cemetery, the Friends hold guided tours on the first Sunday of every month, 2.30pm April-October, 11am November-March. Cemetery tours start at the Cemetery Main Gate, Norwood Road, SE27. Talks (usually illustrated with slides) are held at Chatsworth Baptist Church, Chatsworth Way (off Norwood Road), SE27 (enter by second door on right in Idmiston Road). There is no formal charge for any event, but donations of £1 per person (50p concessions) to help cover costs and aid conservation work are appreciated. Non-members are welcome at all events. Enquiries to 020 8670 5456 or 020 8653 2741.

Programme Of Talks 2008

Saturday 16 February, 2.30pm
Notable Sportsmen At West Norwood Cemetery
Bob Flanagan
One of FOWNC Chairman Bob Flanagan's fields of research has been the sportsmen buried at Norwood, and this will be an extended presentation of the short talk that he gave at last year's sport-themed Lambeth Archives Open Day. It was particularly timely in that 2007 was the centenary of the death of Charles Alcock, dubbed the father of modern sport.
Saturday 15 March, 2.30pm
Dead Art: A DVD Extravaganza
An unusual event for FOWNC - a UK Film premiere! Last summer a US company, Engelentertainment, visited Norwood. Brent Elliott, Avril Kirby, and Bob Flanagan spent 3 days in total with them in the cemetery. The result is a very well produced programme giving something of the flavour of the cemetery and of its history. The programme is part of a series with the running head: 'Dead Art' and three further episodes: 'New Orleans' 'Greenwood, New York' and 'Sleepy Hollow, New York' will also be shown.
Saturday 18 October, 2.30pm
Fownc Annual General Meeting
followed by a talk on Revising Hugh Meller's 'London Cemeteries' Brian Parsons
The author's latest work is updating the seminal illustrated guide & gazetteer which contains historical, biographical and geological material and much more, for both general reader and researcher .
Saturday 22 November, 2.30pm
Indignities Suffered By The Famous Dead
Robert Stephenson
This illustrated talk tells the shameful tale of posthumous ignominy inflicted on some notable corpses over the last thousand years. Robert Stephenson is a qualified City of London guide and tour leader at Kensal Green and Brompton cemeteries. He teaches on London and death studies.

West Norwood Cemetery is one of the metropolitan cemeteries founded to deal with the expanding population of London in the early 19th century. It was opened in 1837. It has 65 Grade II and Grade II* listed monuments and includes memorials to Mrs Beeton, Sir Henry Doulton, Dr William Marsden, Baron Julius de Reuter, Charles Spurgeon and Sir Henry Tate. To increase knowledge and appreciation of the cemetery, the Friends hold general tours on the first Sunday of every month. We also hold special themed tours of the cemetery during the summer, and meetings with talks during the winter. There are details of these tours and talks in our programme of events. We publish three newsletters a year, and are starting to produce our own booklets on notable people buried in the cemetery. We aim to raise funds for conservation work, and to encourage other organisations and individuals to make contributions. As a result, numerous monuments have been repaired or more substantially restored during the past decade, and an extensive programme of works directed by Lambeth Council is currently under way. Annual membership subscription is £3. If you would like further information about the Friends, please contact the Membership Secretary. FOWNC.org is sponsored by Virtual Norwood.

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Registered Charity No. 1063450. Member of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends