Velho and Nuevo Cemeteries

Basic Information

The Spanish and Portuguese Jews came to this country fleeing from religious persecution in Spain and Portugal and set up 'Sha'ar Hashamayim' (The Gate of Heaven) in Mile End in 1656. The Sephardi Velho Cemetery opened in 1657 and was the first Jewish cemetery to be established with Oliver Cromwell's approval, following his re-admission of the Jews to England. It was extended in 1670 and again in 1684 and eventually closed in 1737 after it was full, when a new cemetery opened nearby, the Sephardi Nuevo (New) Cemetery. Many prominent Sephardi Jews were among those buried here. The Beth Holim or Hospital and Old People's Home of Spanish and Portuguese Jews moved here in 1790, with the cemetery used partly as a garden. In 1912 Albert Stern House was built and in 1977 Beth Holim moved to Wembley, and Albert Stern House is now a student hostel.

Affiliation:

Sephardi

Heritage designation:

LBII: Velho Burial Ground; Tablet on north wall recording first stone of wall; Albert Stern House (formerly Beth Holim) and Annex to rear

Build completed:

1657

Gallery

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Courtesy of Philip Walker
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Novo Beth Chaim Sephardi Cemetery in grounds of Queen Mary's College (Jewish East End of London Photo Gallery)
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Courtesy of Philip Walker
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'Jewish Burial-Ground behind the Beth Holim Hospital, Mile End', photograph reproduced from Mrs Basil Holmes, 'The London Burial Grounds', London, 1896
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Velho Cemetery, care of Louis Berk on behalf of S&P Sephardi Community
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Velho Cemetery, care of Louis Berk on behalf of S&P Sephardi Community

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