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Anger over plan to dig up 350,000 bodies in historic London cemetery for Muslim burial site
Last updated at 00:22am on 12.10.07It is a peaceful resting place for 350,000 souls - an historic graveyard which now serves as a nature reserve.
But plans are afoot to dig up the ancient graves at Tower Hamlets Cemetery - and reopen it as a 21st century burial site.
Officially it would be known as a "multi-faith" cemetery but it is likely that it would principally answer calls for a Muslim graveyard in the largely-Asian East London borough.
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Under threat: Historic Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park could be dug up to make way for a 21st century 'multi faith' burial site
The local newspaper has been bombarded with letters from historians and nature lovers declaring: "There is no way we'll allow them to dig up our ancestors."
But the Labour-controlled council's environment spokesman Abdal Ullah appeared to be in no doubt about the feasibility of the plan when he said: "To preserve the respect and dignity for everyone, I think most of the graves would have to be cleared out and we'd start afresh."
He said a corner of the cemetery would be reserved for Muslims who are buried in shrouds at a depth of 6ft and on their side facing Mecca.
By law, any graves more than 75 years old can be removed.
At the cemetery yesterday, liaison officer Ken Greenway - the only paid member of staff tending the 33-acre site - said he was astonished that anyone would even contemplate such a move.
"I'm against it and I have to stand up for that because of the huge value of this site today," he added.
"It's a beautiful haven for wildlife and people."
The City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery was opened in 1841 by an Act of Parliament.
During the Second World War it was bombed five times and some headstones still bear the marks of shrapnel hits.
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Back to nature: Paul Barham of the 'Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park' observes the abundant wildlife through binoculars
Historic: The cemetery in Tower Hamlets is a treasure trove of family history
Other markers have gone altogether, torn down when the graveyard was deconsecrated as a Church of England cemetery by another Act of Parliament in 1966 when it was deemed to be full.
The intention was to create an open space for the public, which led to two bomb-damaged chapels being demolished and a swathe of graves cleared.
In 1986 ownership passed from the Greater London Council to Tower Hamlets and in 1990 the Friends of the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park was set up.
Seven years ago the park became the borough's first nature reserve and it is now tended by 1,600 volunteers.
It is home to 27 species of butterfly, a rare bumble bee, woodpeckers, sparrowhawks and the elusive firecrest.
Some 8,000 schoolchildren visit every year for outdoor nature lessons.
Professor David Bellamy, who is patron of the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, said: "Tower Hamlets Cemetery is still a place of peace and reflection as it has been since it was saved from becoming just another part of East London's urban sprawl.
"Now in its new guise as a local nature reserve and green lung, people of every colour, creed and kind share their humanity with that of other living things.
"I can only pray that the wisdom of all faiths can together discover the right way ahead for this very special part of East London's heritage."
Last night the council was insisting there were no plans to re-open the park as a cemetery.
"It is a popular and historic nature park and if there were any proposalsto alter the look or the functionality, there would be a full consultation with interested parties," said a spokesman.
However the council admitted it had been looking at "options" for burial sites.
And Lib Dem group leader Stephanie Eaton said she had received a letter from the council chief executive admitting the park was one of the options being considered.
Reader views (21)
The trouble with the English is we are too polite. As the saying goes the noisy minority will always win over a silent majority!
- Sue, Melbourne, Australia
East London suffered so badly during WW2 and it looks as if blitz victims who are buried there will be dug up ten years from now if these plans go ahead. Local residents of all faiths must try to block this unedifying plan.
- Rd, Glamorgan, UK
This Nu Labour council needs to be stopped.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London
I volunteer each year with the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and it is a wonderful park. I would be very disappointed if the site was cleared to make way for new graves.
- Joanne, London, UK
This is a kick in the teeth for those trying to do their Ancestry and an insult to the good work done by the friends of Tower Hamlets cemetery. Another case of a world gone mad!
- Steve Evans, Malta
Do they come up with this kind of plan on purpose just to wind us up?
- Paul, London
It's hardly a Muslim burial site, it's a multi-faith site. Having said that I don't agree with destroying old graves to make way for new ones. And I don't agree with destroying such a beautiful nature reserve for a 'new and improved' graveyard.
- Karenb, London
I am appalled!
- Helen, Tower Hamlets, London
What happens to the bodies they dig up? Do they get relocated? In which case, why not just put the recent dead where the relocated ones were going to go?
I for one, am sick of the disrespect over our dead. I have ancestors going back to the 1700's tucked away in cemeteries in Cornwall and would be horrified to find out that they were being turfed out of their resting places. Luckily for them and us there isn't much of a population or space problem down there but just because they're not the recent dead doesn't mean they don't have any rights to Rest in Peace.
I don't blame the local residents for being up in arms about this, it's disgraceful.
- Isabel, Woking, England
Philip, I couldn't have out it better myself!
- Nick, Zurich, Switzerland
I take it then JDK of London, that you have no relatives or ancestors buried there, your children dont visit a rare patch of green thats now a nature reserve, you have no interest in wildlife or history or heritage.
And I take it that the working cemetry at Plaistow a full 3 miles away is full now?
- Les, Essex, UK
This is quite unbeliveable to think that this would even be considered.
- Marge, Sydney Australia
I cannot believe that the endless PC rubbish we put up with has now extened to disturbing the dead - shame on the idiots who have suggested this.
- Steve, Hereford
I have a famous relative buried in the cemetery. Having visited his grave there, I have to say it is a wonderful, peaceful place. I shall certainly object to the council's proposed desecration.
- David, Ipswich, England
This country has gone mad... The cemetery is not only for the dead, but for the living relatives.
- Adrian Parker, England
This is just another crazy idea, plain and simple.
- Dan, Surrey
If bodies are not cremated, they have to be buried somewhere. There are other plans in London to re-use shut cemeteries for burials again, so what is the problem? The fact that it will be used by Muslims?
Does this smack of racism? Possibly.
Once someone is dead, they are dead, no matter what particular flavour of fairy story they believed when they were in the land of the living...
- Jdk, London, UK
Let the dead rest in peace, find a new site for everyone.
- William, Brampton, Cumbria
This proposal has to be the most disgusting insult to English people that I have ever heard.
- Philip, London, England
Abdal Ullah: said: "To preserve the respect and dignity for everyone, I think most of the graves would have to be cleared out and we'd start afresh."
How, precisely, is "clearing out" graves preserving the dignity of their occupants? Perhaps Mr Ullah should think before making such breathtakingly stupid and insensitive comments.
I'm not surprised local residents are up in arms about this.
- Mark, London
"Labour's environment spokesman in Tower Hamlets, Abdal Ullah, said: "To preserve the respect and dignity for everyone, I think most of the graves would have to be cleared out and we'd start afresh."
I think it is appropriate to ask what religion Mr. Ullah is, and where his parents and grandparent/ancestors are buried?
Why can't Muslims bury their dead in a public cemetery like everyone else? Why do they always have to be the awkward squad?
- Sarah N., London
