English Heritage have awarded the crematorium memorial gardens at Stoke Poges Grade I listed status.
Set in parkland adjacent to Stoke Poges golf club, the landscape originally formed part of Stoke Park and was laid out by the famous landscape gardeners Lancelot "Capability" Brown and Humphrey Repton.
The characteristics of Stoke Park changed in about 1909 when the golf course was built and land sold off for building.
In order to stop the development of the south side if St Giles Church, Sir Noel Mobbs, Lord of the Manor of Stoke Poges, bought twenty acres so as to cushion the church against further development.
The land was designated as a living memorial to the dead and on 25th May 1935 the land was dedicated as ‘non-denominational grounds' - later being given to Eton and District Rural Council (now South Bucks District Council).
The memorial gardens were designed and by Edward White in 1934 and duly completed in 1937.
Many existing trees were retained, whilst the meadows were levelled to form the gardens themselves.
A strong avenue of trees on the east side enclosed the gardens. A central path formed the main axis with with further pathways at right angles leading of to take the visitor on a circuit of the gardens.
The gardens went through a period of semi neglect and in 2001, work started to restore them to a their former glory - the culmination of which has been the award of Grade I listed status.
Read this .PDF for a breakdown of the history and layout of Stoke Poges Memorial Garden.
The aerial view is a screen shot taken from Google Maps.
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