The Greenwich Burial Board laid out Greenwich Cemetery in 1856 on a hillside under Shooters Hilland across the road from Oxleas Woods. It is a large site with views towards London from the top of the hill and there are two Gothic chapels and a 1930s lodge at the entrance.

In the cemetery

The cemetery is close to the military establishments in Woolwich and so has many related graves. The CWGC lists 714  Commonwealth war dead.^[1] These are made up of 561 WWI graves of which a group of 263 are buried in a Great War Heroes Corner at the top of the hill. Two curved walls here record the names of those in the cemetery. Alongside the memorial walls is a separate group of 24 Commonwealth war graves, and 75 WWII graves are close by. 

There are other specially designated areas within the cemetery. Thirty Norwegian service people and refugees from World War II are buried in the Norwegian plot. In a different area there is also a Children’s section.

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Views in the cemetery

Burial grounds are interesting places for biodiversity because they are undisturbed. The walls and the monuments encourage mosses, ferns and lichens and appropriate small animals and insects and birds. The cemetery has a few mature lime trees, some yews, pines and Leylandia and the spring flowers are particularly beautiful on the western side.

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Greenwich Cemetery is peaceful and particularly beautiful in the spring.