Brockley and Ladywell cemeteries – Wildlife under threat!!
Brockley and Ladywell cemetery have been a peaceful, almost rural retreat for me for the last 14 years. Merged in 1948 they constitute one bigger cemetery with the Brockley side ( that was originally Deptford) being more given over to trees and ground covering shrubs, and the Ladywell side ( that was Lewisham) to acid grasses. I have regularly walked in the cemetery, reading the inscriptions where they were visible or sat listening to the birds. I used to think what a peaceful place for the dead it was. Now this peace is under threat.
The combined ‘Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery has been an oasis of calm, a place of richly divergent habitats for species and one of the last few important wild areas in Lewisham. It is a place to watch the seasons – the flaming of blackthorn in the autumn, the brilliant red of rosehips and haws, the purples and blacks of blackberries and elderberries, lime blossoms in June, red clover and acorns. The cemetery is home to wolf spiders, cantharidae beetles, lacewings, lesser spotted wood butterflies and commas. Jays nest there, and crows and green finches, as well as long tailed tits.
On the 17th Feb, whilst walking in the cemetery I came across a group of men from FOBLC ( the Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery). They were cutting down or splintering off young trees. For photographs of their work see their website www.foblc.org.uk Since about September last year I had seen attempts to tidy the cemetery particularly on the wilder Brockley side by removing brambles, ivy, clover and saplings from the tombstones. Additionally, the old Victorian weathered signs at the Brockley road side of the cemetery gates, which referred to the cemetery as being Deptford have been removed, eradicating a bit of seminal, but probably too ‘untidy’ history.
I argued with them about what they were doing - the cemetery is Borough grade 1 listed as a habitat for wildlife and is listed on Wild Web as a cemetery coming to the end of its working life. It became apparent to me that they did not know a) what species they were destroying b) there was no plan for the destruction c) they had also been removing ground cover and ivy from the tombstones regardless of their age or state of preservation..
I contacted Cllr Sue Luxton, the local Green councillor and in the course of email correspondance she admitted that this group has been working with cemeteries management and that they have been removing trees in a Borough grade 1 conservation area without planning permission. The cemetery is listed under its Borough grade 1 status as :
Acid grassland ; Amenity grassland ; Planted shrubbery ; Scattered trees ; Semi-improved neutral grassland ; Vegetated wall/tombstones –
However, whilst we were in correspondence the destruction has continued – 2 weeks later I went back to the cemetery. Nearly 50% of the tombstones on the Brockley side have been denuded of any vegetation (destroying many beetle, bird, spider and other habitats) and the grass has been shorn within an inch of its life. If this continues, the Brockley side will only be bare gray tombstones and very short grass with a few really big trees ( but no young ones.)This includes denuding tombstones that are so old there is no inscription on them.
I have been informed, by Cllr Luxton, that the cemeteries management intends to apply for retrospective planning permission on the 18th March. The planning application can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/26vo9v and says it is for
"Retrospective application for the removal of self seeded small trees and saplings growing in and between gravestones; remove all necessary further saplings and pollard Lombardy Poplar trees on the Merritt Road boundary of Ladywell and Brockley Cemeteries, Brockley Grove, SE13".
According to Cllr Luxton, the Brockley Society have been sent the details as it is within the conservation area. However, Cllr Luxton told me she was involved in establishing the FOBLC in the first place.
I think this application should be opposed - borough grade 1 listed status is not relevant if this is allowed to go ahead. Also, if allowed to go ahead I think it will be against the spirit of the tree plans for London ( trees are the lungs of London – see Tree Council and pan-london policies) . It has been said that these trees were blocking paths – (they weren’t); that they stopped it being a working cemetery (how? when growing on graves over 100 years old?); that the ivy and ground cover stops people accessing the tombstones – (why should they if they are not their family? The ones that are still visited are always tidy and visible).
I think this is a back door attempt to create a nice tidy cemetery. In so doing it will ruin the habitats and destroy a little oasis of peace in Brockley