Fulham Cemetery tree history
On this page we use historic aerial photography to track the changes in the cemetery's trees over time.
Note: this is mostly conjecture, and limited by the lack of detail in aerial photographs. Contact us if you have more information.💡 How to use this page 💡
These are interactive pictures – use the left / right arrow buttons to change the image and show annotations.
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View the pictures as a photo album
Use the image carousel to change the image to show annotations. You can also use the left / right arrow keys on your keyboard. View larger images
1949 Aerial photo
5 years after WWII, this shows the cemetery densely crowded with graves, before most of the headstones were removed and the cemetery grassed over.
The photo was taking in spring – 18 April 1949 – and most trees would already be in leaf. But almost no trees can be seen, perhaps due to the lack of room. (Although the image quality makes it very difficult to see.) I think I can make out a regular line of thin trees along the principal avenue. There are large London Planes at the border with the school, which are still there today. (They were profusely planted by the Victorians.) In the south of the cemetery, you can see the large chestnut and 2 maple trees that still grow there today.
[EAW022275] The city from Fulham Football Ground looking towards Hyde Park and beyond, Fulham, from the south-west, 1949. © Historic England. View the full 1949 image on Britain From AboveUse the image carousel to change the image to show annotations. You can also use the left / right arrow keys on your keyboard. View larger images
1966 Aerial photo
With the removal of so many headstones the cemetery has become more park-like. The evidence points to a very deliberate programme of ornamental tree planting, probably during the 1950s, as they are already quite large in this photo.
Here we can see the arrival of the cherry and crabapple avenues that became such a feature of the cemetery for over 70 years. Some of them still survive today (read our article). Two varieties of Japanese cherry were planted: Prunus serrulata Kanzan and Tai Haku, and 3 varieties of Japanese crabapple: Malus halliana, floribunda, and toringo. Other ornamental trees were also planted: Pissard's cherry plum, medlar, and hawthorn.
Two neat avenues of young trees can be seen, forming a cross, along the principal and central north-south avenues. I think they are elm trees, which were traditionally planted in cemeteries and would match the elm tree avenue in Margravine Cemetery. They may have been planted in the 1940s, if I'm correct in my guess on the 1949 photo.
Other new trees that still survive today include a zelkova serrata (Japanese elm), a horse chestnut, and the lime trees along the border with Fulham Palace Road. (Although they may have been replanted since then, as the current trees do not look very old.)
In the 3rd photo I have highlighted those trees that still survive in 2024, but most are greatly reduced in number. All the 1950s cherries and crabapples will likely be gone by 2030.
NCAP-000-000-388-355, West Kensington; Greater London Authority; England © HES • 23 July 1966. Licenced for non-commercial use on web. View the full 1966 image on NCAPUse the image carousel to change the image to show annotations. You can also use the left / right arrow keys on your keyboard. View larger images
1981 Aerial photo
Most trees from 1966 are still here 15 years later, except that the neat rows of trees along the principal avenue have mysteriously disappeared, as have those along the top half of the north-south avenue. The Friends believe that these were elm trees that were cut down due to Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s (as was the case in Margravine Cemetery).
It's odd that the southern section of the north-south avenue is untouched. Perhaps these weren't elms, but the same lime trees that grow there today.
This is the first appearance of a maple tree that's one of the biggest in the cemetery today.
NCAP-000-000-353-072, Fulham; Greater London Authority; England • 13 October 1981. Licenced for non-commercial use on web. View the full 1981 image on NCAPUse the image carousel to change the image to show annotations. You can also use the left / right arrow keys on your keyboard. View larger images
1992 Aerial photo
A very clear photo taken during spring, May 1992. The colour makes it possible to see how many scarlet crabapples (Malus toringo 'Scarlett') were planted in the southeast path – at least 8. (They also have purple foliage but a slightly different shade from the purple plums.) They must have been quite a sight in spring. You can also see at least 5 medlars between them, their white blossoms just visible in the photo. In the northwest corner, the 4 hawthorn trees are in blossom, and the Japanese snowball bushes by the chapel.
I've highlighted identifiable new trees which still grow in the cemetery in 2024. Many of them are still quite small here, like the purple Norway maple and cedars that today shade the principal avenue. You can see the 'Ukon' cherry that grows behind the war memorial, and the magnolia that is such a feature of the northwest of the cemetery today. Another zelkova serrata (Japanese elm) has been added, and the cemetery's only ginkgo tree planted at the bottom of Strode Road.
The central north-south path has been extended with ash trees up to the principal avenue. They're very small here, but today they're as tall as the lime trees.
A curious detail in this photo is that the 3 Tai Haku cherries north of the chapel are almost invisible. Perhaps their foliage matches the colour of the grass.
NCAP-000-000-351-624, Fulham; Greater London Authority; England • 16 May 1992. Licenced for non-commercial use on web. View the full 1992 image on NCAPResearch by Francois Jordaan