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Hoop Lane Cemetery:
A brief History
The West London Synagogue opened its first burial ground in 1843, having secured a plot of land at Balls Pond Road, Islington. By the late 19th century, West London Synagogue needed a larger burial ground and approval was given to establish a new cemetery on farmland near the hamlet of Golders Green. The congregation purchased the site for £3,000 on 21st December 1894. The area consisted of 15 acres and 38 poles situated at the corner of Temple Fortune Lane and Hoop Lane.
Just a few months before the cemetery opened, on 23 April 1896 the West London congregation sold eight acres of the site to the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of London, thus creating an arrangement of sharing cemetery space between the Reform and the Sephardi communities that has persisted into the 21st century. Hoop Lane also became the primary burial ground of London’s Spanish and Portuguese community, superseding its earlier Velho and Nuevo cemeteries in the East End. The first interment was that of Frances Salaman, wife of Charles Salaman, who was born in Jamaica in 1817 and died in London on the 6th May 1897.
There are two owning communities: the S&P Sephardi Community and West London Synagogue. The Cemetery is managed by the Joint Burial Committee (JBC) which is comprised of representatives of the two communities. It meets 4 times a year with the Cemetery Director.