Alperton Cemetery

Alperton Cemetery was opened as Wembley Cemetery in 1917 and the first interment took place in 1918. The pair of chapels linked by a porte-cochère were built in 1937, a modest red brick building but having good stained glass in the burial chapel. The Columbarium was opened in the other chapel in 1942. The cemetery has paths laid out in a grid pattern, with a variety of trees throughout. There is a war grave section maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Alperton Cemetery was opened in 1917 during WWI, and until 1946 it was called Wembley Cemetery. It is sited between the Grand Union Canal and Bridgewater Road and backs onto Sudbury Golf Course. The first interment took place in 1918. The cemetery has a formal layout of paths in a grid pattern. The pair of cemetery chapels, linked by a porte-cochère , were built in 1937 at a cost of £4,700, designed by the Borough Surveyor for Wembley UDC. It is a modest red brick building with Portland stone dressing and a Welsh slate roof. The budget allowed for fine stained glass in the burial chapel, showing a fortressed city. The Columbarium was dedicated in the other chapel in May 1942. At the cemetery entrance are brick and stone gate piers, an area of beds with ornamental planting, and a lodge to the north. The cemetery has a variety of trees throughout, with lines of Lombardy poplar and avenues along the paths, including ornamental cherry trees. There is a war grave section maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and also a children's section. It was Winner of the Cemetery of the Year Award in 2007.

Sources consulted:

LB Brent Cemeteries Dept website; Ian Yarham, Meg Game 'Nature Conservation in Brent, Ecology Handbook 31' (London Ecology Unit, 2000); Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons, 'London Cemeteries, An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer', 4th edition (The History Press, 2008)