The cemetery is 4 acres (1.6 ha) in size and is surrounded by a wall topped with broken glass.

[1][2] The London: East edition of the Pevsner Architectural Guides describes the cemetery as "crowded with mainly later Victorian monuments" and highlights Miriam Levy's monument for its "considerable lavishness".

[3] The land the cemetery occupies was originally a brickfield on Ducking Pond Lane and was subsequently known as North Street.

The raised area became known as the "Strangers Mound" as many of the new burials were not affiliated to any particular congregation.

[6] In the 1980s the local council intended to redevelop the cemetery with the use of a compulsory purchase order as it had not been used for many years.