Kensal Green - origins and development
The individual who, acted as the catalyst for Kensal Green was a barrister, George William Carden (1798-1874). He had been concerned for some time about the inadequacy of burial provision in London and saw Pere Lachaise as the model to solve some of these problems, albeit as it transpired for only a privileged minority. He’d initially proposed a huge pyramid at Primrose Hill to house 5 million bodies, designed by Thomas Willson. This vision did not appeal to the promoters of the General Cemetery Company and a more orthodox model in the style of Pere Lachaise was favoured.
In July 1832, the Act of Parliament for creating the cemetery company received Royal Assent. It published a prospectus inviting subscriptions for £25.00 per share in order to raise £45,000. Provision was made to compensate the Anglican clergy for the loss of burial fees. In November designs were invited for the cemetery buildings . A 32-acre site had been purchased for £9,500 between the Harrow Road and Grand Union canal in what was then farm land owned by All Souls College, Oxford, hence the name.
Designs by H.E Kendall (1776-1875) in the High Gothic style won first and second prize. However, Whiggish bias on the Board of Directors to anything, which hinted at Popery and superstition, together with concerns about future maintenance meant his ideas never saw the light of day. It was the Greek revival style of John Griffith of Finsbury (1796-1888), which emerged as the architectural style of Kensal Green’s main buildings and by 1832, Griffith had assumed the role as the Cemetery Company’s main architect. Greek Revival was the style of polite society, so it was appropriate that the cemetery should reflect the taste of its future ‘clients’.
The Bishop of London consecrated the cemetery on 24 January 1833. The first internment took place a week later on 31 January 1833. The Anglican Chapel wasn’t finally completed until 1837, replacing a temporary chapel, which had been erected.
Carden was suspended as Company Registrar shortly after the Act of Parliament received Royal Assent over disagreements on a number of issues, though he didn’t finally resign as a Director until 1838. He is buried in the cemetery (Plot 24631/113/4).
Kensal Green’s place in the pantheon of fashionable places to be interred was assured in the 1840s when two of George III’s children chose to be buried there, The Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (in 1843) and the Princess Sophia (in 1848).
The General Cemetery Company still own and run Kensal Green. The also operate the Crematorium opened in 1938 (designed by G. Berkeley Willis). It is now very much a cemetery serving west London, rather than the whole of the metropolis. Click here to see an aerial photo of the cemetery today. Follow the links below to find out more about Kensal Green’s buildings, its famous residents and how the symbolism on memorials can tell us much about Victorian culture and society.
