GOLDERS GREEN CREMATORIUM

'Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum' is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain and opened in 1901 having been designed by the architect Sir Ernest George.
Since its opening 'Golders Green Crematorium' has become the flagship of crematoriums the world over. It has pioneered cremation and its practices. But what probably sets Golders Green apart is its association with the funerals of many of the great names of British history over the last century.
Golders Green Crematorium, as it is usually called, is in Hoop Lane, off the Finchley Road, Golders Green, London NW11, five minutes walk from Golders Green tube station. It is directly opposite an extensive Jewish cemetery. Although the crematorium deals with all religions and creeds, Golders Green is well known as an area with a high Jewish population.
The crematorium's buildings have an Italianate style, and include a notable tower, visible in the photograph below, which contains the chimney from the crematoria. The 12 acres of gardens are extensive, and contain several large tombs, two ponds and bridge, and a large crocus lawn. Another notable feature is a special children's section, which includes a swinging bench. There is also a wall dedicated to communists. There are two cremation chapels and a chapel of remembrance. There are also three columbariums containing the ashes of thousands of Londoners.
At Christmas, although the crematorium is secular, a Christmas tree is erected on the field in front of the main buildings, and a nativity scene is placed near the chapel of remembrance.
Among those whose ashes are retained here are:

★ Larry Adler

★ Kingsley Amis

★ Sir Fenton Aylmer VC

★ Elizabeth Berger

★ Marc Bolan

★ Wilfred Bowman

★ Bernard Bresslaw

★ Alexander Carlisle

★ Eric Coates

★ Leslie Compton

★ James Connell

★ Steve Conway

★ Dame Cicely Courtneidge

★ Walter Crane

★ Tony Crombie

★ Ed Devereaux

★ James Dewar

★ Ray Ellington

★ Bud Flanagan

★ George Frampton

★ Anna Freud

★ Sigmund Freud

★ Ernest George

★ Erno Goldfinger

★ Charles Gray

★ Hughie Green

★ Irene Handl

★ Tommy Handley

★ Robert Harbin

★ Sir Cedric Hardwicke

★ Jack Hawkins

★ Tubby Hayes

★ Ian Hendry

★ Alex James

★ Sid James

★ Jimmy Jewel

★ Geoffrey Keen

★ Frederick Kerr

★ Johnny Kidd

★ Alexander Korda
• Thomas Kramer

★ Keith Moon

★ Ivor Novello

★ Sean O'Casey

★ Joe Orton

★ Anna Pavlova

★ Ronnie Scott

★ Phil Seamen

★ Peter Sellers

★ Bram Stoker

★ H. G. Wells

★ Joyce Grenfell

★ Yootha Joyce

★ David Kossoff

★ Paul Kossoff

★ Wolf Mankowitz

★ Moore Marriott

★ Janet Munro

★ Val Parnell

★ Bob Sharples

★ Sir Bernard Spilsbury

★ Wilfred Fienburgh

★ Conrad Veidt

★ Bernie Winters

★ Enid Blyton
Among those cremated here, but whose ashes are elsewhere, are:

★ Stanley Baldwin, ashes removed to Worcester Cathedral;

★ Neville Chamberlain, ashes removed to Westminster Abbey;

★ Bebe Daniels, with her husband, Ben Lyon, at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood;

★ T. S. Eliot (at rest in a church in the village of East Coker, England);

★ Gary Holton (actor most famous as the star of Auf Wiedersehen Pet;

★ Kenneth Horne;

★ John Inman, actor

★ Leonid Krasin, ashes buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis;

★ Rudyard Kipling, ashes removed to Westminster Abbey;

★ Alice Liddell (see ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'');

★ Vivien Leigh, ashes were scattered on the lake at Tickerage Mill pond, near Blackboys, Sussex, London;

★ Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, ashes buried at the Royal Cemetery at Frogmore;

★ Arnold Ridley, Actor;

★ King Prajadhipok of Thailand, ashes removed to Chakri Throne Hall in the Grand Palace, Bangkok
:'See also:' List of other famous cemeteries