The City of London Cemetery & Crematorium has won Green Flag status (2014) for the 14th year in a row, as well as picking up the prestigious ‘Green Heritage Site’ award.

Green Flag Awards recognise the best green sites in the UK, and are awarded by a panel of expert judges for their top facilities and excellent use of green space – while Green Heritage Site status recognises the care and conservation of important historic sites.

The site of the cemetery in Aldersbrook Road in Manor Park was purchased by the City of London Corporation in 1853 because new burials in the Square Mile had been banned in 1852 due to congestion.

The cemetery is the largest municipal facility in Europe and has seen nearly 1 million cremations and burials since it opened in 1856. The site is Grade I listed and there are 8 Grade II listed buildings within the grounds, which also contain the resting places of Bobby Moore and the victims of Jack the Ripper, the Battle of Stepney, and Edith Thompson and more recently, union leader Bob Crow.

Gary Burks, City Corporation Superintendent & Registrar, said: “I’m delighted that the Cemetery has once again been recognised as one of the best run and well-loved green spaces in the UK. It is testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff who work throughout the year to maintain and protect this wonderful site.”

Although perhaps best known for looking after the world’s leading business district in the heart of the capital, the City of London Corporation also manages 11,000 acres of green spaces in London and the South East on major sites like Hampstead Heath, the ancient woodland Epping Forest and over 200 parks, plazas and green churchyards in the Square Mile.