How the project has unfolded: a timeline of House of Life developments
Project timeline as at July 2020
In this article we track the unfolding of the National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported transformation of Willesden Jewish Cemetery, from the grant award in early 2018 to now, when building works are almost complete and a new visitor experience awaits the return of heritage visiting following the coronavirus shut-down.
January 2018 - Announcement of £1.7 million Heritage Grant from Heritage Lottery Fund towards a £2.3 million conservation and community engagement project.
January 2018 - Receipt of London Borough of Brent Planning Permission for reconfigured maintenance yard.
April 2018 - Permission from HLF to start the project. Recruitment of staff team including Project Leader Hester Abrams who continues from the Development Phase.
May 2018 – Appointment of Richard Griffiths Architects as Lead Design Consultant, with Fox Fernley Landscape Office, followed by further design team appointments. Work starts on RIBA Stage 4 detailed design for the Lodge, buildings and planting.
June 2018 - Arrival of Capital Works Manager Saroop Hanspal, Programme Manager Alice Mayers and Administrator/Volunteer Coordinator Vicky Proctor.
September 2018 - Heritage Open Days Open Sunday at Willesden with three heritage talks and four guided walks attended by some 250 visitors.
October 2018 - Volunteer photographers start work identifying World War One tokens and memorials.
December 2018 - New fibre-optic cable laid from Lodge beneath paths to prepare for multi-purpose use of the Portico, Prayer Hall and Cohanim Room for visiting and learning.
January 2019 - Plane trees in Old Ground receive their bi-annual pollarding but with tops left bushy to allow creation of an espaliered avenue, with Rabbinical permission.
February 2019 - Old iron gate is sent to forge for restoration.
February 2019 - Appointment of Philip Simpson and Sophie Smith as Interpretation and Design consultants to shape the stories of the site and create and install exhibits and media, from Lodge to outdoor trails and soundscapes.
March 2019 - Appointment of Anna Cullum and Pam Jarvis as project evaluation consultants.
March 2019 - Receipt of new planning permission from London Borough of Brent allows for a permanent building in the new maintenance yard for grounds staff, workshop and equipment.
March 2019 - Recruitment of volunteers to help create a flagship exhibition at Brent Museum & Archives to happen while building works are on.
March 2019 - First regular House of Life newsletter mailed to 500+ supporters.
March 2019 - Volunteers sow wild flower seeds in a demarcated square “Quadrat” of Section QX, the project’s first trial in increasing bio-diversity and natural habitats in the grounds.
May 2019 - US Burials erects new Portakabin for grounds staff in a new screened maintenance area behind the Lodge.
May 2019 - Appointment of building contractor Borras.
May 2019 - Activities and Volunteer Manager Emma Weleminsky-Smith appointed to the team.
May 2019 - The restored gate in the back wall between Willesden Jewish Cemetery and Liberal Jewish Cemetery is reinstated.
May 2019 - Inheritance Day attended by 110 people who listen to stories of people buried at Willesden told by their relatives at the graveside.
June 2019 - House of Life staff and cemetery superintendent vacate Lodge for new maintenance building.
June 2019 - Building works start on site. Lodge and central buildings are worked on concurrently. Funerals and consecrations continue as normal.
June 2019 - Project Manager Jason Lowe of Conservation Plus joins the team.
June 2019 - First training for volunteer tour guides by Blue Badge guide Rachel Kolsky of Go London Tours.
July 2019 - Sunday afternoon drop-in guided walks start, led by volunteer guides.
September 2019 - The House of Life takes part in national Heritage Open Days, B’nai B’rith Days of Jewish Culture and Heritage, and Open House London.
September 2019 - the interior of the Grade II Listed Prayer Hall and Portico undergo conservation, removing layers of plaster, redecorating and re-wiring. New heating and sound systems are installed to provide greater comfort for visitors whether attending a funeral service or a heritage learning experience.
October 2019 - The “House of Life” exhibition opens at The Library at Willesden Green, in a partnership with Brent Museum & Archives. With life stories and exhibit materials researched and chosen by volunteers, this is a big step in taking the cemetery out beyond its walls to the heart of the local community. It is accompanied by a series of well attended special events, from a Private View to a Death Cafe and a concert.
October 2019 - Annual Commemoration by AJEX the Jewish Military Association at Willesden Cemetery cenotaph.
October 2019 - A new garden is created on the empty land of a partly-used Lebus and Grumbar family plot in the Old Ground. The planting, by volunteers, follows plans by the project’s landscape architect James Fox to create “pocket handkerchief” bursts of colour around the cemetery, and to boost natural habitats and bio-diversity across the site.
December 2019 - Building works to the Lodge end. Fencing is removed to reveal a new glazed extension framing a more spacious interior with space for permanent exhibits and a welcome by volunteers. A new separate entrance is provided to the private first floor flat.
January 2020 - United Synagogue starts the 150th Anniversary year of its founding in 1870. Founding President Sir Anthony de Rothschild and many other leaders are buried at Willesden.
January 2020 - The House of Life staff team returns to dedicated offices on the Lodge ground floor and prepares for the public opening of a new visitor experience.
January 2020 - A new “tar and chip” path surface is laid around the Lodge and the adjacent war memorial garden, part of a new coherence of design in the cemetery’s environment effected by the project.
January 2020 - To a packed audience, Brent Museum & Archives hosts Songs Unearthed: Music from Willesden Jewish Cemetery, a special musical tribute concert at the Library at Willesden Green. More than 70 performers, from the London Cantorial Singers, to a choir from St. Paul’s Girls’ School and a band from Guildhall School of Music and Drama, performed pieces from music associated with people buried at Willesden. The repertoire was specially created by the project, researched by volunteers. The programme ranged from 1970s rock and popular musicals to Victorian comic opera.
February 2020 - The House of Life Exhibition at the Library at Willesden Green ends, having attracted more than 7,700 visitors over four months. Some exhibits will be re-used in the permanent displays at the Visitor Centre.
February 2020 - New sound exhibits are installed in the Prayer Hall and Mortuary.
February 2020 - Volunteers talk to visitors at Kilburn Library in the first of a planned series of outreach talks to share the cemetery’s heritage with more, and a wider range of, people.
February 2020 - New Learning Support volunteers receive training from the project in partnership with the Jewish Museum learning team in preparation for visits by schools. The first outreach workshops are delivered in primary and secondary schools.
March 2020 - Lawn around the war memorial gives way to herbaceous planting as volunteers start on the second dedicated contemporary garden area under the project’s plans.
March 2020 - The United Synagogue closes its synagogues and cemeteries to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Work continues behind the scenes to complete new Interpretation of the cemetery’s stories and to switch to delivering talks and events by webinar.
May 2020 - Volunteer gardeners return to the grounds following social distancing guidelines, to attend to new planting, support seasonal maintenance of garden areas, and keep on top of weeding in places where US Burials has stopped spraying pesticide in order to protect the environment.
June 2020 - New graphic panels, interactive displays and photography are installed in the Welcome Centre in the Lodge.
June 2020 - Cliveden Conservation Workshop starts specialist conservation of five biographically and aesthetically-significant monuments in the cemetery.
June 2020 - www.willesdenjewishcemetery.org.uk, this website, is launched.
July 2020 - The House of Life hosts an online event to commemorate the centenary of Rosalind Franklin’s birth.
