Willesden Jewish Cemetery (House of Life)

Willesden Jewish Cemetery, which runs a heritage centre under the name House of Life, is on Beaconsfield Road, NW10 2JE, and is free to visit. It is a Grade II registered park and garden, NHLE 1449184, recorded by Historic England at 8.04 hectares. The heritage centre and funerary buildings open Sunday 10:00 to 16:00 and Monday to Thursday 10:00 to 13:00 and are closed on Fridays; the grounds open Sunday to Thursday 8:00 to 17:00 in summer or 8:00 to 16:00 in winter, and Friday 8:00 to 17:00 in summer or 8:00 to 13:00 in winter, with the operator giving no date ranges for summer and winter. Saturdays, bank holidays and Jewish festivals are closed to both, and the operator warns that the heritage centre may close for events, private bookings or staff availability.

History

The operator states that nearly 30,000 men, women and children have been buried here since 1873, and Wikipedia gives 29,800 graves. Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, and members of his family are buried here, and the tomb of Rosalind Franklin, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, is listed Grade II, NHLE 1444176, on 7 March 2017. Four monuments inside the cemetery carry their own Grade II listings: the complex of funerary buildings, NHLE 1448718, on 1 August 2017; the burial enclosures of Mayer, Juliana and Hannah Rothschild, NHLE 1449844; the tomb of Max Eberstadt, NHLE 1449845; and the war memorial of 1961 by Ralph Hobday, NHLE 1449842, the last three all on 5 September 2017. The House of Life project, funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of 2015, opened the cemetery to visitors on 7 September 2020.

History

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