Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Who we are

What we do

We preserve, protect and promote Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park – as a designated Metropolitan Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, and one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ Victorian-era cemeteries. We curate a programme of conservation/nature, heritage and community events and activities – using the Cemetery Lodge and Soanes Centre as bases from which to enjoy and appreciate the 31-acre site.

The Cemetery Park is looked after by the dedicated staff, trustees, and volunteers of the Friends, for the community, under a service level agreement (contract) with London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The Friends run over 170 events each year, including volunteering sessions for 3,000 volunteers each year, guided walks, forest school, heritage crafts, birthday parties and training courses. We research and preserve the heritage of the site and the stories of the people buried here. We work with a range of partners to run community cohesion, social development and health projects.

We’ve won awards for our work and the Cemetery Park is a designated Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.

We champion the nature and heritage of the Cemetery Park, bringing new people to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in search of the unique history and hidden nature of the site. Through our work Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and the Friends attract national and international attention and we have been featured in the media.

Our culture and values

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park offers everyone a breathing space in the heart of East London. This 31-acre nature reserve is London’s most central urban woodland and one of its ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries. It’s a people’s park, a sanctuary for wildlife, a place for remembrance and a site for community events, field studies and forest schools. Always changing with the seasons and rooted in the unique heritage of the East End, it’s a place full of history, discovery and possibilities for all.

The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (FoTHCP) is an award-winning local charity working to protect, preserve and care for the Cemetery Park. Our passionate staff and volunteers share their energy, expert knowledge and vision to shape the future of the park for everyone’s benefit.

Within the Cemetery Park we have two buildings for our work as well as activities and events. The Cemetery Park Lodge, our office, and alongside it the Soanes Centre, a shared space for larger meetings and events, and a dedicated storage space for the tools and equipment that are essential for managing our 31-acre award-winning woodland and heritage site, that contains ponds, meadows, grasslands and hedgerows.