3. The Magnificent Seven

While Kensal Green was in the vanguard of the  the garden cemetery movement, new cemeteries had been opened in the 1820s, notably:


However, the focus of the garden cemetery movement was very much in London. During the 1830s, Parliament authorised the establishment of eight commercial cemetery companies. Their location in the metropolis' rural hinterland was inspired by J.C Loudon's visionary idea for a concentric areas of open spaces at set intervals from the centre of the capital. His ideas outlined in 'Hints on Breathing Places for the Metropolis, and for Country Towns and Villages, on fixed Principles' (1829) were 69 years ahead of Ebenezer Howard's green-belt proposals.

In this first wave, seven cemeteries were founded within a decade and they were to form the template for cemetery design for decades to come. They were.



                                                                    J.C Loudon and his memorial at Kensal Green
                                                                                         (b&w image courtesy of Derby Arboretum)

As burial space was usually sold on a perpetual freehold basis, cemeteries like Kensal Green were beyond the means of ordinary people. Therefore as in life, your station was reflected in the location and style of your grave as it might the style and location of your house. These new cemeteries offered security from the grave robbers and an opportunity to freely express the latest fashionable aesthetic all with a landscaped parkland setting. The next page tells the story of how Kensal Green came to be built. Click here to continue.