As the country was celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years’ rule, the United Synagogue’s Willesden Jewish Cemetery had its own special commemoration.
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In March, Willesden Jewish Cemetery ran a series of digital events. These included Losing Loved Ones Keeping Rituals, Jewish Funerals in Victorian Times, and Written out of History? Getting to know the women of Willesden Cemetery .
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Between the 8-31 January, visitors to Willesden Jewish Cemetery can immerse themselves in an evocative soundscape as they explore 21 acres of tranquil memorial landscape thanks to the sound installation, Invisible City, produced by artists FOR NOW.
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Laurie Kay, gardening volunteer, shares with us about the plants that the team have planted that complement the historic settings of the site.
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Hester Abrams, project leader, joined Ben Newman from Cliveden Conservation to share the stories of the graves that have been conserved and the people beneath them.
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Hester Abrams, project leader, joined the Economist’s Babbage podcast to discuss Rosalind Franklin’s continuing impact.
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Catch up on Willesden Jewish Cemetery’s press coverage to mark the opening of the cemetery to heritage visiting.
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The seven events of the series, five panels and two workshops, gave space for people to delve into wider questions of identity, memory and space, and to reflect on the rich source of discovery provided by cemeteries, and Willesden in particular.
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Willesden Cemetery is looking for a young person to be part of “Invisible Cities”, a sound piece they have commissioned from artists as part of the Brent Biennial art extravaganza of the London Borough of Culture 2020. You need to have an older relative buried at the cemetery and we want to record you chatting with a grandparent or carer.
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Prize-winning authors from around the world and writers polishing their first creations will meet on Zoom for Life Lines from 7 to 13 September, staged by the “House of Life” heritage project of London’s most surprising Jewish cemetery.
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More than 170 people from around the world zoomed into a webinar this week by a House of Life volunteer about the Jews who died in the South African campaign.
Young historian Molly Maslen researched the background to two memorial boards that have been sitting quietly at Willesden Jewish Cemetery for the last 60 years. They name 114 Jewish men who died on service for Britain in the war from 1899 to 1902.
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150 people dialled into our Zoom talk on the 26 July 2020 celebrating the centenary of the birth of influential scientist, Rosalind Franklin.
The event presented a completely different legacy for Rosalind Franklin, showing her as a pioneer for her work on viruses – many of her papers are directly influencing the research that is going on today in the global fight against COVID-19.
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Owing to the coronavirus emergency the cemetery is currently closed to visitors except for funeral services.
The “Big Reveal” of our new visitor experience is on pause for now. Until public visiting is allowed again, we’re sorry that we can’t welcome you in person. Hopefully, before too long you will be able to come into our new Visitor Centre, see our conserved buildings and memorials, and check how our new garden planting is growing.
Click to see how how nature has thrived in the absence of visitors.
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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.
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We are seeking to trace relatives of John Nathan Neville who died in 1910 and whose substantial family enclosure in the Old Ground near the Prayer Hall is shortly to undergo specialist conservation works.
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We are seeking to trace family of Henry Nathan who died aged 60 in 1927. A distinctive marble monument above his grave at Willesden will be given specialist conservation treatment this summer.
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Entirely independent of the House of Life project, we have been contacted by Cathy Sedgwick who documents the lives of Australian servicemen and women who fought in World War One. Her website includes information about personnel whose graves are at Willesden.
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In a change from our “classic” tours, for International Women’s Day this year Hester Abrams took 20 visitors to see the graves of a dozen women who deserve to be better known, from an actress to a philanthropist, a translator and a Suffragette.
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On the 22nd January 2020 Brent Museum and Archives presented a unique concert alongside the House of Life project at Willesden Jewish Cemetery.
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In October 2019 the House of Life project proudly opened a temporary exhibition at Brent Museum and Archives in Willesden Library.
The exhibition was the first step to opening up Willesden Jewish Cemetery to the wider public, it was a chance to step out from behind the eight ft walls and inspire interest in local people.
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