Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a North Kensington haven of peace and tranquillity, and, in the summer, luxuriant greenery. During April, you can expect to see the arrival of migrant warblers such as Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Whitethroats and Willow warblers. And look out for Great spotted woodpeckers, Green woodpeckers, Kestrels and Sparrowhawks, not to mention thirty-one species of lichen.The cemetery's 77 acres lie at the northern limit of Ladbroke Grove, bounded to the north by Harrow Road and to the south by the Grand Union Canal. When it was opened in 1833 in what was still countryside, it was London's first dedicated cemetery - until then people had been buried in churchyards.
But churchyards had become notoriously overcrowded and increasingly noxious, posing a very real threat to public health. One scheme of the time called for a 94-level pyramid-shaped necropolis with 215,000 catacombs and a capacity of five million souls to be built on Primrose Hill. Obviously, that never got off the drawing board.
After it was opened, its layout and design greatly influenced by the Parisian cemetery Père Lachaise, the cemetery quickly became the fashionable place to be seen dead in. A royal interment in 1848, (Princess Sophia, George III's daughter), confirmed the cemetery's cachet. A guide produced by the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery has this to say of the tragic Princess. "Repressed by her father, she gave birth following a chance evening alone with a court equerry more than twice her age; the latter turned out to be a complete blackguard, and Sophia led a life of loneliness, and, towards the end total blindness."
Other famous residents include writers William Thackeray, Wilkie Collins and Anthony Trollope. Collins was buried in 1889 amid unseemly scenes when female fans pushed and jostled to get hold of wreaths and other mementoes.
Kensal Green is also the last resting place of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, appropriately interred within a stone's throw of his Great Western Railway. Compared to the tombs of many lesser lights, his memorial, a simple Portland stone slab, is a modest affair and indeed there seems to be a notably inverse relationship between the grandiosity of the graves and the notability of their inhabitants.
As well as those eminent figures, many other memorable Victorians are buried at Kensal. Here are four of them.
Jean Francois Gravelet (1824-97) Better known as Blondin, intrepid Gravelet crossed Niagara falls on a tightrope several times, variously on stilts; with a wheelbarrow; blindfolded; with a man on his back; and finally, pausing to cook and eat an omelette half-way across.
Andrew Ducrow (1793-1842) Ducrow, a circus owner and bareback rider, was titled the Colossus of Equestrians. While still alive, and at an unprecedented cost of £3,000, he built his extraordinarily elaborate walk-in tomb which was denounced for its 'ponderous coxcombry'.
John St. Long John (1798-1834 ) The improbably named John St. Long John was a notorious quack who claimed to have discovered a cure for tuberculosis, or consumption as it was then known, one of the most feared diseases in Victorian times. Unfortunately, it seemed that his cure had a tendency to speed rather than delay death and he was forced twice to defend himself from charges of murder brought by disgruntled relatives.
Dr. James Barry (c.1795-1865) Barry led a successful career as an army surgeon, rose to the heights of Inspector General of the Army Medical Department, and fought a duel with another officer at the Cape of Good Hope. Only after Dr. Barry's death did it emerge that she was a woman.
You can visit the cemetery (main gate on Harrow Road) during these hours:
Greenwich Mean Time (from the date the clocks go back):
Monday to Saturday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday, 10:00 to 5:00 pm
Bank Holidays, 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
British Summer Time (from the date the clocks go forward):
Monday to Saturday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Bank Holidays, 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
Group tours run by the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery are highly recommended. Tours (£12 and £10 concessions) are held most Sundays at 2:00 pm. You can book them here .
For more information visit:
The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery
The General Cemetery Company, which owns and operates Kensal Green Cemetery.
Cemetery map