Streatham Park Cemetery is laid out in a grid pattern and opened as the Great Southern Cemetery in 1909 but was originally planned in 1890 to match the Great Northern Cemetery that opened in 1861 in Southgate. The cemetery buildings included a lodge, an Anglican Chapel and a small Roman Catholic chapel designed by
John Bannen who also designed the Crematorium. The Crematorium had been planned from 1913 but was not built until 1936, the delay owing to the start of
World War I. The cemetery has a long connection with the
Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund (VABF), with about 200 variety artistes and
music hall performers buried here between 1921 and 1944 and a memorial. A Chapel of Remembrance was added in 1958 at the request of the VABF. Up to
World War II the cemetery accounted for one fifth of all burials in South London. The cemetery has a large number of burials from
World War I (118) and
World War II (290) which are maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and has a
Cross of Sacrifice and Screen Wall Memorial, the latter commemorating casualties of both wars who are buried in this cemetery in graves which could not be marked by headstones. After
World War II another wing was added to the memorial on which are commemorated the names of 123 personnel who died during that conflict and were cremated at the South London Crematorium, which is situated within the cemetery. ==South London Crematorium==