This building near Waterloo Station was once the terminus for the London Necropolis Railway, a venture that aimed to reduce pressure on the capital's burial grounds by transporting bodies to the enormous Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. Funeral trains carried coffins and mourners (tickets had to be purchased for both) to Brookwood in around 50 minutes. The cemetery had separate stations for Anglicans and Non-conformists and trains and waiting rooms were strictly segregated on class lines. At the London station, corpses were laid out in a chapel room so people who couldn't make it out to Brookwood could pay their respects. A steam- powered lift would then convey the coffins up to the platforms. The London Necropolis Railway was, however, not as successful as had been hoped and was wound down after the London terminus was badly damaged in World War II. #history #gothic #folklore #death #railways #weird #London #Victorian #Halloween #31DaysofHalloween #steampunk
