h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In a Surrey Pirbright woodland, right on the Hampshire border of the training ground of the British army in England stands a cemetery of family tombs, gravestones and memorials of those from Victorian London and of soldiers tragically killed in wars gone by.

The Necropolis was founded in 1852, but the land on which it sits goes back further still. The cemeteries' occupants include: Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993), John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Edith Thompson (that was executed in Holloway prison in 1923) plus many more.

It is situated directly next to Brookwood railway station, as it was used to house the dead of an ever growing London, as the population around the mid 1850s was growing beyond the control of the authorities, so Brookwood was built to take the strain away from London's already overflowing cemeteries. Although now in ruin the old station platform that used to run through the cemetery can still be seen to this day.

In the daylight and on hazy summer days, Brookwood Necropolis is a place of beauty, stillness and tranquillity, with its huge Redwood trees and never ending pathways, and rows as far as the eye can see of white crosses of the war dead; it stands out as one of the worlds most fascinating, yet inspiring places of rest and honour. An old church as the heart of the grounds also stands proud, adding to the cemeteries peaceful surroundings and charm.


Even though many of the dead are victims of past wars, the cemetery is a mixed faith cemetery, of Christian, Muslim, and Zoroastrian beliefs, so it stands as a monument of hope to many who wish for a more peaceful world, so the people buried within the graves did not die in vain.

By night the place takes on a whole new characteristic, one of mystery, and creeping foreboding, wonder and fear....

Many strange sounds can be heard coming from in and around the many tombs, and patches of forest, that some would suggest is nothing more than rats and birds, while others would suggest something a lot more sinister and spectral in nature, such as those spirits and ghosts that still have not found eternal rest, or seek to revisit a place they once found comfort. Visual sightings have also been reported, such as green and white shapes and mists hovering over graves, and moving across pathways and weaving in and around trees.

The unfortunate crime of graveyard vandalism has also taken place in the cemetery, due to it being so close to Brookwood station. Drunk people have broken into the cemetery and kicked over grave stones and littered the place with beer bottles, which is readily cleaned up by the cemeteries' caring and loyal keepers. Could the souls that still dwell there be showing there discontent for these mindless acts of modern society?

Reports of bizarre types of rituals quietly taking place by blacked robed figures, with an ominous hum of strange chanting has also been seen and heard late in the night, on full moons, and at certain times of the year such as Samhain (Halloween).

Could these rituals be just innocent Pagan ceremonies to honour the dead, or maybe a more morbid ritualistic type of supposed Devil worship?

The unsettling cries and sobs of women can also be heard in the twilight hours, that is said to stop anyone in their tracks who hears the creepy moans, that seem to come from nowhere.

Whether Brookwood cemetery and Necropolis is haunted or not is down to interpretation, or one's beliefs, but would you spend a night alone by yourself in such an eerie place?