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Opened in the mid-19th century to ease the burden on the capital's groaning churchyards. In its heyday, daily funeral trains transported coffins and mourners from Central London, and its 'residents' now number almost a quarter of a million. With graves, memorials and mausolea from the 1850s to the present day, the cemetery includes segregated areas for a great variety of national backgrounds and faiths. Many notable graves are mapped and marked by signage. The Brookwood Cemetery Society runs guided walks at least monthly.
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
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Traditionally the Anglican side and the earliest part to be developed, meaning lots of gothic vaults, crumbling Celtic crosses and angels, although there are plenty of other plots here too, notably a Serbian Orthodox cemetery. Near to that, you'll find the monastic church of St Edward the Martyr, an early Christian king of England whose remains and shrine are inside. A small community of True Orthodox monks resides here, and might welcome you inside for a look and a chat. Notable graves in the South Cemetery include those of the artists John Singer Sargent, Evelyn De Morgan and William De Morgan, plus the exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky.
Traditionally the 'nonconformist' side, where Catholics, Baptists, Jews and the irreligious jostle for space among some important segregated plots. Here you can find Christian grounds for the Latvian and Swedish communities of Britain, along with several Muslim plots, from the golden dome of the Najmee Baag area to the white geometric blocks of the Dawoodi Bohra ground. The only Zoroastrian burial ground in Europe has numerous large vaults and other impressive graves, one of which is said to belong to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, under a pseudonym. Definite notable burials in the North Cemetery include the early anatomist Dr Robert Knox, who used bodies snatched from Edinburgh graves by Burke and Hare, contemporary architect Zaha Hadid, and the cemetery's owner (1985-2006) and restorer Ramadan Güney.
A 'library' of Surrey history with many historical documents. Not a general museum - book before visiting.
Good, wholesome Conference football. Woking's "The Cardinals", so named from a reference to the Cardinal Red half of the team strip, are a non-league team that play in the Blue Square Premier (tier 5). The grounds, situated south of Woking Park in Kingfield, have a large stand for home supporters, whilst away fans have to make do with standing terraces. Each home game brings associated problems of parking with many cars parking the entire length of Westfield Avenue, which runs adjacent to the stadium, as there is no adequate parking inside the grounds itself.
Good cinema and theatre complex. If you want to take in a movie, try to do so on a Monday when all tickets are £5 (any other day you can expect to pay £7 upwards). However, there isn't much in the way of food (bar the obvious popcorn and candy; they even took out the Baskin-Robbins stand) so if you want anything substantial, be sure to buy it before going in.
Modern art gallery with restaurant. Has permanent 'History of Woking' exhibition (free) and changing exhibitions, mostly free.