Muslim Burial Ground

Of the 21 Brighton Muslim casualties (names and details), 19 soldiers were buried at the specially built Muslim Burial Ground in Woking; others were buried at the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey.

Unlike the Chattri memorial, the Muslim Burial Ground has suffered neglect over the years and its historical significance has not been fully appreciated.

Necessity

At the start of the war before the Brighton hospitals had been setup the initial plan by the War Office had been to establish a Muslim burial ground for soldiers that died at English hospitals within a section of the Christian Cemetery on the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netey. [1] In the interim, 25 Muslim soldiers had already been buried in a section of Brookwood Cemetery, in Surrey. [2]

Eventually it was decided to instead establish a Muslim burial ground in Woking, near the Shah Jahan Mosque, at that time the only mosque in England. [3] In 1915 a plot of land for the burial ground was acquired at Horsell Common by the Secretary of State in Council [4] from Lord Onslow [5], (Richard Onslow the 5th Earl of Onslow).

Design & Construction

The burial ground was designed by architect T.H. Winney a surveyor from the India Office and built by the local firm of Ashby and Horner Ltd. The grounds are a walled rectangular enclosure 100 foot by 120 foot. [6] The design has an entrance pavilion or "chattri" to the western side. The walls are about 8' or 2.5 metres high, with a brick plinth and cut-out arcade of ogee arches. The walls are subdivided into a number of bays using brick piers with Portland stone capitals and bases. The entrance pavilion is built of red brick on a square plan with an Islamic ogee profile archway. It features a deep overhanging eave called a "chujja" set on scrolled brackets, and a "beehive" style dome. [7] .The gravestones of the soldiers were of simple sandstone, with round arched heads facing towards Mecca.

Footnotes

1. Statement of Maulvie Sadr-Ud-Din, Mosque, Woking,, August 27th 1915, Woking Muslim Mission

2. “Honouring Indian Dead”, The Times, April 18, 1915, 5

3. Horsell Common Preservation Society, “The Muslim Burial Ground – Horsell Common”, A Breath of Fresh Air, Summer No. 19

4. “A Garden of God”, The Times, May 26, 1916, 5

5. Statement of Maulvie Sadr-Ud-Din, Mosque, Woking,, August 27th 1915, Woking Muslim Mission

6. Images of England, National Monuments Record, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=290780&mode=quick

7. Muslim Burial Ground, National Monuments Record, http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1526616