A Woodland with a History
The Enchanted Woodland has a history going back to the turn of the 20th Century when it was owned by the Joyce Green Hospital.
Joyce Green Hospital
Most of the plants and trees we find today in the area we call the Enchanted Woodland have developed naturally since the early 1950’s when use of the area by the Joyce Green Hospital ended. Many local people know the woodland was originally the cemetery of that hospital. The staff of the Joyce Green Hospital cared for people with infectious diseases. The building, along with two other river hospitals, was built in the first few years of the 20th century replacing the hospital ships, Endymion and Castalia.
Cemetery
Although many burials took place in its grounds up until 1951, over 80% of the burials occurred in just one year, over 100 years ago, in 1902. This was the year that saw London and surrounding areas devastated by a severe smallpox epidemic. Other than just one remaining gravestone, the only other signs that this area was a burial ground are the yew trees which are traditionally planted in churchyards and cemeteries.
Woodland Burial Site
Since the early 1950’s the area has been untouched and although there was no purposeful intention for it to become a woodland burial site, that is the miracle that nature has brought about. Part of the Trust’s aim is to maintain the Enchanted Woodland as a healthy, living green space with gentle paths to meander through, sunny clearings to bask in and woodland events to get involved in.
