Trent Park Cemetery

Trent Park Cemetery is a lawn cemetery on Cockfosters Road in Cockfosters, north London, in the London Borough of Enfield. It sits right beside Cockfosters tube station and next to Trent Park, which makes it one of the easiest cemeteries in the capital to reach by public transport.

What kind of place is Trent Park Cemetery?

It is a working municipal cemetery rather than a historic garden of Victorian monuments. It is run by Islington and Camden Cemetery Services, which means the grounds are looked after by two inner-London boroughs even though the site lies on the northern edge of the city. Islington Council opened it in 1960 (one listing gives 1961), when inner-London cemeteries were running out of space and burial grounds were being created at the edge of the built-up area.

How to get there

The Piccadilly line terminus at Cockfosters is next to the cemetery, and Oakwood station is the other nearby stop. The entrance is on Cockfosters Road. If you arrive by tube, the walk from the platform to the gate is very short. Visitors who also plan a walk in the neighbouring Trent Park can combine both in one trip.

What does the cemetery look like?

The layout follows the lawn-cemetery model. Instead of upright headstones, only flat memorial plaques are allowed, and the permitted materials are bronze or granite. The result is an open, even grassy landscape without the crowded stone forests of older London cemeteries.

Along the internal roads there are rows of trees, mostly conifers. In places, between the trees, you will find rows of small memorials. The planting gives the ground a regular, orderly character and some shelter from the busy road.

Chapel and remembrance garden

A small brick chapel stands on the left side as you enter. It holds a Book of Remembrance. Opposite the chapel, off the main drive, there is a quiet garden where ashes are kept, a calm corner of the site for those who come to remember someone.

Is it the same as Christ Church churchyard?

No. Cockfosters also has the older churchyard of Christ Church, listed separately in the London Gardens Trust inventory. That churchyard is a different site, with older graves and family monuments, while Trent Park Cemetery is the twentieth-century lawn cemetery described here. Records of war graves in "Cockfosters (or Trent Park) churchyard" refer to the churchyard, not to this cemetery.

Historical background of the land

The area belonged to the former Enfield Chase hunting ground. Trent Park itself was created out of that land after 1777. The cemetery occupies part of this long-changing landscape on the north London edge.

Practical notes

• Location: Cockfosters Road, Cockfosters, north London (Enfield).
• Nearest stations: Cockfosters and Oakwood (Piccadilly line).
• Memorials: flat bronze or granite plaques only.
• Facilities: small chapel with a Book of Remembrance, and a garden for ashes.
• Operator: Islington and Camden Cemetery Services.

Frequently asked questions

Who runs Trent Park Cemetery? Islington and Camden Cemetery Services.

When did it open? In 1960, opened by Islington Council, although one source says 1961.

Can I install an upright headstone? No. Only flat plaques in bronze or granite are allowed.

Is it close to public transport? Yes, it is adjacent to Cockfosters tube station.

Is there a chapel? Yes, a small brick chapel near the entrance, with a Book of Remembrance.