It is one of the "Magnificent Seven" Victorian cemeteries established in a ring around what were then the outskirts of London, and is one of two located south of the River Thames (the other being West Norwood).

[6] Reinterred remains were removed from the cemetery in 1867 and 1933 from the site of the demolished St Christopher le Stocks church in the City of London.

The cemetery contains examples of the imposing monuments to the most eminent citizens of the day, which contrast sharply with the small, simple headstones marking common or public burials.

With the ensuing neglect, the cemetery gradually changed from lawn to meadow and eventually to woodland.

It is now a local nature reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for wildlife, populated with songbirds, woodpeckers and tawny owls.

[7] The Victorian part of the cemetery is currently in a poor state of repair, being best described as an elegant wilderness; locals like to call it a nature reserve.

Many areas of the cemetery are fairly overgrown with vines, as visible in newer tourist photos.

There is an obelisk, the "Scottish Political Martyrs Memorial", the second monument (the other is in Edinburgh) dedicated to the leaders of the Friends of the People Society, popularly called the Scottish Martyrs, including Thomas Muir, Maurice Margarot, and Thomas Fyshe Palmer, who were transported to Australia in 1794.