Willesden Jewish Cemetery House of Life

Visitor Experience Advisor

Caroline is an advisor for Willesden Jewish Cemetery House of Life Visitor Experience. Willesden Jewish Cemetery has recently entered London’s culture scene with its new visitor experience. After five years of painstaking conservation and research, and a Covid-related delay, Willesden Jewish Cemetery extended a warm welcome to people of all backgrounds in September 2020. It is the first time that a still active Jewish cemetery will invite visitors to discover the lives of people buried there, and to explore the customs and history of London’s Jewish community.

The cemetery is the final resting place of a dazzling array of British Jews dating back to the Victorian era. They include scientist Rosalind Franklin, designer Kurt Geiger, jeweller Harriet Samuel, members of the Rothschild banking family, four Chief Rabbis, Tesco’s founder Jack Cohen, Pre-Raphaelite painter Simeon Solomon – as well as thousands of people whose stories are yet to be discovered.

The orthodox Jewish cemetery in Brent, northwest London, owned and looked after by the United Synagogue, is the only Jewish cemetery on England’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Thanks to £1.7 million funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, support from the United Synagogue and partnership donations, visitors to Willesden Jewish Cemetery will be able to explore its new ‘House of Life’ visitor experience. To find out more, please go to News & Views.

Image ©United Synagogue