This is a list of cemeteries, crematoria and memorials in the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It includes two cemeteries – Mortlake Cemetery and North Sheen Cemetery – that are managed by Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.
Cemeteries and burial grounds
Barnes Cemetery, also known as Barnes Old Cemetery, is a disused cemetery in
Barnes. It was established in 1854 and functioned as an additional burial ground to the local parish churchyard.[1] A number of distinguished Victorians were buried there, with a variety of monuments and statues erected to their memory. At the centre of the cemetery is a large memorial to the Hedgman family, who were local benefactors in Barnes.[2] The cemetery was claimed to be haunted by a ghostly nun that would hover over the grave of Julia Martha Thomas, the victim of
an infamous murder in 1879.[1] In 1966 the cemetery was acquired by
Richmond upon Thames Council with the intention of turning it into a
lawn cemetery. The council demolished the chapel and lodge and removed the boundary railings to prepare the cemetery for its new role. However, it then dropped the plans and effectively abandoned the cemetery.[2]
East Sheen Cemetery, in
East Sheen, opened in 1906 and is now contiguous with Richmond Cemetery, though the original boundary is marked by a hedge. The cemetery's chapel, now used for services by both sites, was built in 1906 in the
Gothic Revival style by local architect Reginald Rowell, who was himself later buried in the cemetery. The cemetery contains several particularly noticeable memorials. The most important monument in the cemetery is the memorial to coal mining industrialist George William Lancaster and his wife by
Sydney March (1876–1968) – a bronze sculpture of an angel weeping over a stone
sarcophagus dating from the 1920s. It was designated a Grade II*
listed building in 1992, and according to
Historic England is "considered one of the most significant 20th-century examples of funerary sculpture".[1][3] The cemetery also contains over 70 war graves, cared for by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Mortlake Cemetery is a cemetery in
Kew.[6] It is also known as Hammersmith New Cemetery as it provided burials for the then
Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith when
Margravine Cemetery was full.[7] The cemetery opened in 1926 and is still in use.[8] It is now managed by
Hammersmith and Fulham Council.[8] The cemetery includes the Commonwealth war graves of 109 service personnel of
World War II, some of them in a special services plot in the south-eastern corner of the cemetery. Seventy-seven Commonwealth servicemen of
World War II who were cremated at Mortlake Crematorium, which adjoins the cemetery, are listed on a screen wall memorial erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the cemetery.[9] They include
England rugby internationalVivian Davies (1899–1941) who was a captain in the
Royal Artillery.[10] The memorial is listed Grade II by Historic England.[11]
North Sheen Cemetery, established in 1909 and still in use,[8] is in
Kew[12] (historically in
North Sheen, Surrey). It is managed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.[8] The cemetery includes 110 identified graves of Commonwealth service personnel in the First and Second World Wars[13] and a memorial garden.[14]
Old Mortlake Burial Ground, in
Mortlake, was established in 1854, and enlarged in 1877.[15] It includes Commonwealth war graves of 21 British service personnel, 19 from World War I and two from World War II.[16]
Richmond Cemetery, in
Richmond, opened in 1786[17] and has been expanded several times. Many prominent people are buried in the cemetery, as are 39 soldiers who died at the South African Hospital in
Richmond Park during the First World War and many ex-servicemen from the nearby
Royal Star and Garter Home. These residents are commemorated by the Bromhead Memorial, which lists the names of those who are not commemorated elsewhere, while the South African soldiers are commemorated by a
cenotaph designed by
Sir Edwin Lutyens, derived from his design of
the Cenotaph on
Whitehall in central London. The war graves and the cenotaph are the responsibility of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Teddington Cemetery is a Grade II listed[18] cemetery in
Teddington. It opened in 1879, and includes the war graves of 70 Commonwealth service personnel, 42 from World War I and 28 from
World War II.[19]
Twickenham Cemetery is a cemetery in
Whitton.[20] It was established in 1868[21] and was expanded in the 1880s when the local parish churchyards were closed to new burials.[22]
Mortlake Crematorium in Kew[30] was licensed in 1936 under the Mortlake Crematorium Act 1936, thereby becoming the first
crematorium in England to be established under its own
Act of Parliament.[31] It opened in 1939 and has been a Grade II listed building since 2011, being assessed by Historic England as having "a distinctive Art Deco design that survives little altered in a compact and practical composition".[32]
Mausoleums
The Comte de Vezlo Mausoleum, in the churchyard of
St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake, commemorates the very young Comte de Vezlo, Guilaume Henri (1894–1901). A plaque near the mauseolum's entrance also commemorates his mother, Annette Rosamonde Blasio, the Comtesse de Vezlo, who died in 1938.[33]
The Grade II* listed[34]Kilmorey Mausoleum, in
St Margarets, is in the style of an ancient Egyptian monument and has been described as a "fine example of an Egyptian-style mausoleum, with an unusually good interior".[34] Designed by
Henry Edward Kendall Jr. (1805–1885),[34] it was commissioned in the 1850s by
Francis Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey (1787–1880) and contains the bodies of the Earl and his mistress, Priscilla Anne Hoste (1823–1854).
The Richmond War Memorial, in Richmond, was unveiled in 1921 and has been Grade II listed since 2017.[39]
The South African War Memorial in Richmond Cemetery was designed by architect
Sir Edwin Lutyens in the form of a
cenotaph, similar to
that on Whitehall, also by Lutyens. The memorial commemorates the 39 South African soldiers who died of their wounds at a military hospital in
Richmond Park during the First World War. It was unveiled by General
Jan Smuts in 1921 and has been Grade II listed since 2012.[40]
Other listed war memorials include:
The Kew War Memorial, near
St Anne's Church, unveiled in 1921 and Grade II listed since 2015.[41]
The Mortlake and East Sheen War Memorial, in
East Sheen, unveiled in 1925 and Grade II listed since 2017.[42]
The Petersham War Memorial, in the churchyard of
St Peter's Church, unveiled in 1920 and Grade II listed since 2017.[43]
The Teddington War Memorial, in
Teddington, unveiled in 1921 and Grade II listed since 2017.[44]
The Twickenham War Memorial in
Radnor Gardens, designed by
Mortimer Brown and erected in 1921. It has been Grade II* listed since 2017.[45]
Other memorials
The Bromhead Memorial is a Grade II listed memorial in Richmond Cemetery to deceased residents of the nearby
Royal Star and Garter Home.[46][47] It was commissioned as a gift from the Bromhead family in the name of Lieutenant Colonel
Alfred Bromhead – who served as a governor of the Star and Garter Home – and his wife Margaret, who was also a governor and the home's matron. The memorial was designed by
Cecil Thomas (1885–1976) and has been described by historian Darren Beach as "probably the finest sight at Richmond Cemetery".[48]
Trees: The Jubilee Plantation, commemorating the
Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, was established in 1887.[51] Prince Charles' Spinney was planted out in 1951[52] with trees protected from the deer by fences, to preserve a natural habitat. The bluebell glade is managed to encourage native British bluebells. Teck Plantation, established in 1905,[53] commemorates the Duke and Duchess of Teck, who lived at White Lodge. Their daughter Mary married
George V.[54] Tercentenary Plantation, in 1937,[53] marked the 300th anniversary of the enclosure of the park. Victory Plantation was established in 1946[53] to mark the end of the Second World War. Queen Mother's Copse, a small triangular enclosure on the woodland hill halfway between Robin Hood Gate and Ham Gate, was established in 1980[53] to commemorate the 80th birthday of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The park lost over 1000 mature trees during the
Great Storm of 1987 and the
Burns' Day storm of 1990. The subsequent replanting included a new plantation, Two Storms Wood, a short distance into the park from Sheen Gate. Some extremely old trees can also be seen inside this enclosure.[35]
James Thomson: A bench sculpted by Richard Farrington[55] and known as "Poet's seat" is located at the north end of
Pembroke Lodge Gardens, in a spot called Poet's Corner, which also has three curved benches inscribed with a couplet by the Welsh poet
W. H. Davies (1871–1940), "A poor life this, if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare".[56] The seat is inscribed with lines by the poet
James Thomson (1700–1748)[57] who is also commemorated by a wooden memorial plaque with an
ode to Thomson by the writer and historian
John Heneage Jesse (1809–1874).[57]King Henry's Mound, also in Pembroke Lodge Gardens, is inscribed with a few lines from
Thomson's poem "The Seasons".[57]
Ian Dury: In 2002 a "musical bench", designed by Mil Stricevic,[58] was placed in a favoured viewing spot of rock singer and lyricist
Ian Dury (1942–2000) near Poet's Corner. On the back of the bench are the words "
Reasons to be cheerful", the title of one of Dury's songs.[57] In 2015 the bench was refurbished, and now includes a
QR code which, when scanned with a
smartphone, gives access to nine
Ian Dury and the Blockheads songs and Dury's Desert Island Discs interview with
Sue Lawley, first broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 on 15 December 1996.[59]
References
^
abcMeller, Hugh; Parsons, Brian (2013). London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer (fourth ed.).
Stroud, Gloucestershire:
The History Press.
ISBN9780752496900.
^
abBeach, Darren; Gilmour, Lesley (2011). London's Cemeteries. Metro Publications. p. 105.
ISBN978-1-902910-40-6.
This is a list of cemeteries, crematoria and memorials in the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It includes two cemeteries – Mortlake Cemetery and North Sheen Cemetery – that are managed by Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.
Cemeteries and burial grounds
Barnes Cemetery, also known as Barnes Old Cemetery, is a disused cemetery in
Barnes. It was established in 1854 and functioned as an additional burial ground to the local parish churchyard.[1] A number of distinguished Victorians were buried there, with a variety of monuments and statues erected to their memory. At the centre of the cemetery is a large memorial to the Hedgman family, who were local benefactors in Barnes.[2] The cemetery was claimed to be haunted by a ghostly nun that would hover over the grave of Julia Martha Thomas, the victim of
an infamous murder in 1879.[1] In 1966 the cemetery was acquired by
Richmond upon Thames Council with the intention of turning it into a
lawn cemetery. The council demolished the chapel and lodge and removed the boundary railings to prepare the cemetery for its new role. However, it then dropped the plans and effectively abandoned the cemetery.[2]
East Sheen Cemetery, in
East Sheen, opened in 1906 and is now contiguous with Richmond Cemetery, though the original boundary is marked by a hedge. The cemetery's chapel, now used for services by both sites, was built in 1906 in the
Gothic Revival style by local architect Reginald Rowell, who was himself later buried in the cemetery. The cemetery contains several particularly noticeable memorials. The most important monument in the cemetery is the memorial to coal mining industrialist George William Lancaster and his wife by
Sydney March (1876–1968) – a bronze sculpture of an angel weeping over a stone
sarcophagus dating from the 1920s. It was designated a Grade II*
listed building in 1992, and according to
Historic England is "considered one of the most significant 20th-century examples of funerary sculpture".[1][3] The cemetery also contains over 70 war graves, cared for by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Mortlake Cemetery is a cemetery in
Kew.[6] It is also known as Hammersmith New Cemetery as it provided burials for the then
Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith when
Margravine Cemetery was full.[7] The cemetery opened in 1926 and is still in use.[8] It is now managed by
Hammersmith and Fulham Council.[8] The cemetery includes the Commonwealth war graves of 109 service personnel of
World War II, some of them in a special services plot in the south-eastern corner of the cemetery. Seventy-seven Commonwealth servicemen of
World War II who were cremated at Mortlake Crematorium, which adjoins the cemetery, are listed on a screen wall memorial erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the cemetery.[9] They include
England rugby internationalVivian Davies (1899–1941) who was a captain in the
Royal Artillery.[10] The memorial is listed Grade II by Historic England.[11]
North Sheen Cemetery, established in 1909 and still in use,[8] is in
Kew[12] (historically in
North Sheen, Surrey). It is managed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.[8] The cemetery includes 110 identified graves of Commonwealth service personnel in the First and Second World Wars[13] and a memorial garden.[14]
Old Mortlake Burial Ground, in
Mortlake, was established in 1854, and enlarged in 1877.[15] It includes Commonwealth war graves of 21 British service personnel, 19 from World War I and two from World War II.[16]
Richmond Cemetery, in
Richmond, opened in 1786[17] and has been expanded several times. Many prominent people are buried in the cemetery, as are 39 soldiers who died at the South African Hospital in
Richmond Park during the First World War and many ex-servicemen from the nearby
Royal Star and Garter Home. These residents are commemorated by the Bromhead Memorial, which lists the names of those who are not commemorated elsewhere, while the South African soldiers are commemorated by a
cenotaph designed by
Sir Edwin Lutyens, derived from his design of
the Cenotaph on
Whitehall in central London. The war graves and the cenotaph are the responsibility of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Teddington Cemetery is a Grade II listed[18] cemetery in
Teddington. It opened in 1879, and includes the war graves of 70 Commonwealth service personnel, 42 from World War I and 28 from
World War II.[19]
Twickenham Cemetery is a cemetery in
Whitton.[20] It was established in 1868[21] and was expanded in the 1880s when the local parish churchyards were closed to new burials.[22]
Mortlake Crematorium in Kew[30] was licensed in 1936 under the Mortlake Crematorium Act 1936, thereby becoming the first
crematorium in England to be established under its own
Act of Parliament.[31] It opened in 1939 and has been a Grade II listed building since 2011, being assessed by Historic England as having "a distinctive Art Deco design that survives little altered in a compact and practical composition".[32]
Mausoleums
The Comte de Vezlo Mausoleum, in the churchyard of
St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake, commemorates the very young Comte de Vezlo, Guilaume Henri (1894–1901). A plaque near the mauseolum's entrance also commemorates his mother, Annette Rosamonde Blasio, the Comtesse de Vezlo, who died in 1938.[33]
The Grade II* listed[34]Kilmorey Mausoleum, in
St Margarets, is in the style of an ancient Egyptian monument and has been described as a "fine example of an Egyptian-style mausoleum, with an unusually good interior".[34] Designed by
Henry Edward Kendall Jr. (1805–1885),[34] it was commissioned in the 1850s by
Francis Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey (1787–1880) and contains the bodies of the Earl and his mistress, Priscilla Anne Hoste (1823–1854).
The Richmond War Memorial, in Richmond, was unveiled in 1921 and has been Grade II listed since 2017.[39]
The South African War Memorial in Richmond Cemetery was designed by architect
Sir Edwin Lutyens in the form of a
cenotaph, similar to
that on Whitehall, also by Lutyens. The memorial commemorates the 39 South African soldiers who died of their wounds at a military hospital in
Richmond Park during the First World War. It was unveiled by General
Jan Smuts in 1921 and has been Grade II listed since 2012.[40]
Other listed war memorials include:
The Kew War Memorial, near
St Anne's Church, unveiled in 1921 and Grade II listed since 2015.[41]
The Mortlake and East Sheen War Memorial, in
East Sheen, unveiled in 1925 and Grade II listed since 2017.[42]
The Petersham War Memorial, in the churchyard of
St Peter's Church, unveiled in 1920 and Grade II listed since 2017.[43]
The Teddington War Memorial, in
Teddington, unveiled in 1921 and Grade II listed since 2017.[44]
The Twickenham War Memorial in
Radnor Gardens, designed by
Mortimer Brown and erected in 1921. It has been Grade II* listed since 2017.[45]
Other memorials
The Bromhead Memorial is a Grade II listed memorial in Richmond Cemetery to deceased residents of the nearby
Royal Star and Garter Home.[46][47] It was commissioned as a gift from the Bromhead family in the name of Lieutenant Colonel
Alfred Bromhead – who served as a governor of the Star and Garter Home – and his wife Margaret, who was also a governor and the home's matron. The memorial was designed by
Cecil Thomas (1885–1976) and has been described by historian Darren Beach as "probably the finest sight at Richmond Cemetery".[48]
Trees: The Jubilee Plantation, commemorating the
Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, was established in 1887.[51] Prince Charles' Spinney was planted out in 1951[52] with trees protected from the deer by fences, to preserve a natural habitat. The bluebell glade is managed to encourage native British bluebells. Teck Plantation, established in 1905,[53] commemorates the Duke and Duchess of Teck, who lived at White Lodge. Their daughter Mary married
George V.[54] Tercentenary Plantation, in 1937,[53] marked the 300th anniversary of the enclosure of the park. Victory Plantation was established in 1946[53] to mark the end of the Second World War. Queen Mother's Copse, a small triangular enclosure on the woodland hill halfway between Robin Hood Gate and Ham Gate, was established in 1980[53] to commemorate the 80th birthday of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The park lost over 1000 mature trees during the
Great Storm of 1987 and the
Burns' Day storm of 1990. The subsequent replanting included a new plantation, Two Storms Wood, a short distance into the park from Sheen Gate. Some extremely old trees can also be seen inside this enclosure.[35]
James Thomson: A bench sculpted by Richard Farrington[55] and known as "Poet's seat" is located at the north end of
Pembroke Lodge Gardens, in a spot called Poet's Corner, which also has three curved benches inscribed with a couplet by the Welsh poet
W. H. Davies (1871–1940), "A poor life this, if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare".[56] The seat is inscribed with lines by the poet
James Thomson (1700–1748)[57] who is also commemorated by a wooden memorial plaque with an
ode to Thomson by the writer and historian
John Heneage Jesse (1809–1874).[57]King Henry's Mound, also in Pembroke Lodge Gardens, is inscribed with a few lines from
Thomson's poem "The Seasons".[57]
Ian Dury: In 2002 a "musical bench", designed by Mil Stricevic,[58] was placed in a favoured viewing spot of rock singer and lyricist
Ian Dury (1942–2000) near Poet's Corner. On the back of the bench are the words "
Reasons to be cheerful", the title of one of Dury's songs.[57] In 2015 the bench was refurbished, and now includes a
QR code which, when scanned with a
smartphone, gives access to nine
Ian Dury and the Blockheads songs and Dury's Desert Island Discs interview with
Sue Lawley, first broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 on 15 December 1996.[59]
References
^
abcMeller, Hugh; Parsons, Brian (2013). London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer (fourth ed.).
Stroud, Gloucestershire:
The History Press.
ISBN9780752496900.
^
abBeach, Darren; Gilmour, Lesley (2011). London's Cemeteries. Metro Publications. p. 105.
ISBN978-1-902910-40-6.