Woking Crematorium, the first in the country, was founded in 1878, when a piece of land close to St John's Village was bought by Sir Henry Thompson, surgeon to Queen Victoria and founder of The Cremation Society. The acre of land was purchased, with the aid of subscriptions at £200 each, from the London Necropolis Company, who established the nearby Brookwood Cemetery.
By 1911, the original one acre site was extended to 10 acres and now the country's first Book of Remembrance, dating back to 1940, is held there. Famous people cremated here have included Thomas Hardy, Dr Barnardo and the Marquis of Queensbury.
Directions
The Crematorium is just outside St. Johns village, on Hermitage Road. Limited parking is available on site and buses to the village are frequent.
Contact
Telephone the Crematorium office on 01483 472 197.