Haunted Brookwood Cemetery, The London Necropolis
Date: Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 (CDT )
Topic: Ghosts & Spirits
 In a Surrey Pirbright woodland, right on the Hampshire border of the training ground of the British army in England stands a cemetery of family tombs, gravestones and memorials of those from Victorian London and of soldiers tragically killed in wars gone by.
The Necropolis was founded in 1852, but the land on which it sits goes back further still. The cemeteries' occupants include: Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993), John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Edith Thompson (that was executed in Holloway prison in 1923) plus many more.
It is situated directly next to Brookwood railway station, as it was used to house the dead of an ever growing London, as the population around the mid 1850s was growing beyond the control of the authorities, so Brookwood was built to take the strain away from London's already overflowing cemeteries.
In the
daylight and on hazy summer days, Brookwood Necropolis is a place of
beauty, stillness and tranquility, with its huge Redwood trees and
never ending pathways, and rows as far as the eye can see of white
crosses of the war dead; it stands out as one of the worlds most
fascinating, yet inspiring places of rest and honour.
 Even though many of the
dead are victims of past wars, the cemetery is a mixed faith cemetery,
of Christian, Muslim, and Zoroastrian beliefs, so it stands as a
monument of hope to many who wish for a more peaceful world, so the
people buried within the graves did not die in vain.
By night the place takes on a whole new characteristic, one of mystery, and creeping foreboding, wonder and fear....
Many strange sounds can be
heard coming from in and around the many tombs, and patches of forest,
that some would suggest is nothing more than rats and birds, while
others would suggest something a lot more sinister and spectral in
nature, such as those spirits and ghosts that still have not found
eternal rest. Visual sightings have also been reported, such as green
and white shapes and mists hovering over graves, and moving across
pathways and weaving in and around trees.
 The unfortunate crime of
graveyard vandalism has also taken place in the cemetery, due to it
being so close to Brookwood station. Drunk people have broken into the
cemetery and kicked over grave stones and littered the place with beer
bottles, which is readily cleaned up by the cemeteries' caring and
loyal keepers. Could the souls that still dwell there be showing there
discontent for these mindless acts of modern society?
Reports of bizarre types of
rituals quietly taking place by blacked robed figures, with an ominous
hum of strange chanting has also been seen and heard late in the night,
on full moons, and at certain times of the year such as Samhain
(Halloween).
Could these rituals be just
innocent Pagan ceremonies to honour the dead, or maybe a more morbid
ritualistic type of supposed Devil worship?
The unsettling cries and
sobs of women and babies can also be heard in the twilight hours, that
is said to stop anyone in their tracks who hears the creepy moans, that
seem to come from nowhere.
Whether Brookwood cemetery
and Necropolis is haunted or not is down to interpretation, or one's
beliefs, but would you spend a night alone by yourself in such an eerie
place?
Copyright: Barry Stevens (Faeden)
Note: This article and images were submitted to ThothWeb by Barry Stevens.
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