London Necropolis Railway Station
the station for the dead
The surviving ornate facade of the station that once ran funeral trains carrying London's dead out to a vast Surrey cemetery.
Free to visit · Waterloo · Waterloo · SE1 7HR
Opening: Exterior viewable any time
In Victorian times London's graveyards were so dangerously overcrowded that a private company opened a vast new cemetery at Brookwood in Surrey and ran a dedicated railway to reach it. From a special terminus near Waterloo, the London Necropolis Railway carried coffins and mourners out to the country, with separate carriages by class and even by religion, the living and the dead travelling together.
The line ran from 1854 until the station was bombed in 1941. Its handsome arched entrance survives at 121 Westminster Bridge Road, easy to walk past without a clue to its macabre history. It is free to find, a quietly extraordinary relic of how the Victorians dealt with death.
Getting there: At 121 Westminster Bridge Road, a short walk from Waterloo station.
Best time to go: Daytime, on a walk near Waterloo.
Insider tip: Look for the grand arched doorway and the carved lettering still naming the railway, set into the office building. The story is grim but fascinating, and there is a plaque to help you picture the funeral trains that once left from here.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide