Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park celebrate its 35th anniversary as a nature reserve
The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park are celebrating the 35th anniversary of their stewardship of the historic space.
Tower Hamlets Cemetery was created in the 19th century as one of London’s ‘magnificent seven’ burial places, but it ceased to serve its original function in 1966.
Since 1990, the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park have been running the site as a nature reserve and a space for community activities, including lessons in their ‘outdoor classroom’, nature walks, foraging courses, a summer community fair and more.
To celebrate their anniversary, the group is launching an appeal to raise £1,000 for a commemorative bench.
They are also inviting suggestions from the public as to the best location for the bench.
Tower Hamlets Cemetery opened in 1841, during an era that also saw the creation of metropolitan cemeteries in Highgate, Stoke Newington (Abney Park), Nunhead, West Norwood, Kensal Green and Brompton.
The space is now a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature and Conservation.
Anyone in the community can volunteer to help care for the park every Tuesday and on the first Sunday of every month, and the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park welcomes new members.
To donate to the commemorative bench fundraising appeal, go here.
To join Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, go here.