Fulham Cemetery tree history

This is the earliest aerial photo I could find that shows the cemetery in reasonable detail. The image quality is quite poor, but the presence of two perpendicular avenues of trees is unmistakeable, along the principal and central north-south avenues. 

These two avenues are also visible in the 1966 photo, but not in the 1949 photo. In 1966 they don't seem much bigger than this, not 26 years' growth at least. Perhaps they were cut down and replanted? But the image quality makes it hard to be sure. I'm guessing they are elm or lime trees.

The horse chestnut and two maple trees in the south of the cemetery are still there today in 2025.

There are 3 large trees north of the chapel, but by 1966 they are gone.

The image quality is too low for me to guess at the cemetery border trees, or along the Munster Road avenue.

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 taken in spring – 18 April 1949 – and most trees would already be in leaf. But almost no trees can be seen, perhaps due to a lack of room for them. (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, but they seem smaller than in the 1940 photo, so perhaps they were replanted. There is no sign of the north-south avenue anymore.

In the south of the cemetery, you can see the large chestnut and 2 maple trees also visible in 1940, and which still grow there today, as do the plane trees behind the school

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 flowering fruit trees were also planted: Pissard's cherry plum, medlar, and hawthorn.

As in 1940, 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 do not seem 26 years older than in the 1940 photo, so I think they were replanted.

Other new trees that still survive today include a zelkova serrata (Japanese elm) 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.

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 today one of the biggest trees in the cemetery. 

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.

I've not commented on the Munster Road avenue so far as the shadows make it hard to see, but you can see here the white blossoms of 3 large wild cherries, of which just one remains today.

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.

A large number of cypresses – at least 20 – were added to the cemetery in the early 1990s, and some cedars and pine trees among them. They are very easy to see in this photo, but if you look closely at the 1992 photo, many of them are already there as small trees. They are of several species.

At least 5 new oak trees also appear, although again they may already be present as small trees in 1992. Ditto for 2 hornbeams in the south of the cemetery.

You can also see the lone yew tree next to the lodge.