St Marylebone Cemetery was opened and consecrated on 13th March 1855 and the first interment was the next day. The site, at the time, covered some 47 acres although we suspect the cemetery today is slightly smaller. The garden center next door to the main entrance appears to of been built on what was once cemetery land as the front boundary wall and railings are of the same Victorian type that fronts the Cemetery.
 
Formerly managed by St Marylebone Borough Council, it later became the responsibility of the City of Westminster following the local government re-organisation in 1965. More recently Westminster City Council re-acquired the cemetery in the early 1990's and it's name was formally changed to East Finchley Cemetery.
 
To this day the cemetery only contains some 22,000 grave plots with a limited amount of grave space still available. Maybe the much larger St Pancras & Islington Cemetery, which is only a mile or so down the road and opened 3 years earlier, could be the reason for the modest interment rate. Never the less the Cemetery is both beautiful and well maintained and is very well deserved of it's Green Flag awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and was also voted Cemetery of the Year in 2007.
 
The Cemeteries main entrance is through a small but impressive stone arch with the cemetery lodge along side. Just inside the grounds the Anglican Church takes pride of place with a nice lawned area and two Lebanese Cedar trees (planted in 1856) between it and the front boundary wall with ornate ironwork. Further back near to the center of the Cemetery is the non-conformist Chapel and not far away, and of almost equal proportions, is the impressive Glenesk Mausoleum. Built in 1899 the Glenesk Mausoleum is an impressively sized Gothic structure and is East Finchley's only mausoleum. Unfortunately at present there is  a 7 foot high metal mesh barrier preventing near access and restricting the view. The reason for this is unclear but is probably due to unstable stonework.
 
Other monuments of distinction include the bronze tomb of Thomas Tate, the memorial statues of Harry Dillon-Ripley and Sir Peter Nicol Russell and the monstrous tomb of Thomas Skarratt Hall.
 
Notable Burials
 
Sir Henry Bishop – Professor of Music at Oxford and operatic composer
 
Leopold Stokowski – Conductor
 
Sir Robert Harmsworth – Newspaper Publisher with a memorial by Edwin Lutyens
 
Lord Northcliffe – Founder of the Daily Mail
 
Sir Joseph Chamberlain – Son of Joseph Chamberlain and brother of Neville Chamberlain
 
Sir George Hayter – Queen Victoria’s principal painter in ordinary
 
Melanie Appleby - one half of pop duo Mel and Kim
 
Algernon Borthwick 1st Baron Glenesk – Memorial chapel and Mausoleum
 
Thomas Henry Huxley – Scientist
 
Heath Robinson – Artist and cartoonist
 
Marie Studholme - Actress
 
George Walters - Sergeant in the 49th Foot who won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Inkermann in 1854
 
Thomas Stevens - Cyclist, the first one to circle the globe by bicycle


East Finchley Cemetery
East End Road
East Finchley
London
N2 0RZ