Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cemetery, Hanwell (aka Hanwell Cemetery) is located on the north side of the

Uxbridge Road Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in West London. The route starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes, and Hillingdon. Uxbridge Road is a major roa ...

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England.

History

Although located in the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (UB1, UB2). With a population of 3 ...

, this extramural cemetery was created and opened in 1855 by the

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early ...

parish in North Kensington, with the assistance of the Hanwell Urban District Council. This was to take the pressure off St Mary's own burial grounds which were almost full. Moreover, burials within the capital were now looked upon as a potential health problem and so the

Burial Act 1857 The Burial Act 1857 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is one of the Burial Acts 1852 to 1885. Its purpose is to regulate burial grounds. It regulates where and how deceased people may be buried, and provides for the exhumati ...

was passed. One of the provisions was for new interments to be carried out beyond the densely populated areas of London. It lies on the east side of Hanwell's boundary with

West Ealing West Ealing is a district in the London Borough of Ealing, in West London. The district is about west of Ealing Broadway. Although there is a long history of settlement in the area, West Ealing in its present form is less than one hundred years ...

and the old boundary stones can still be seen along the ground's eastern perimeter. In common with the Victorian style for parks, it is intricately landscaped with many curving paths. A variety of trees including yew, pine and oak are spread throughout the grounds with tall cedars around the perimeter help to create a more interesting vista than would an open and repeating grid system of graves. The entrance from the Uxbridge Road is through a tall stone arch with heavy iron gates and past a lodge. A long avenue of tall evergreen yew, holly and box hedging, leads to the burial area and the chapel which is situated towards the centre. The chapel (which is now disused and in disrepair), lodge and arch, are built of Kentish Ragstone in the Revived Gothic style. All three were designed by

Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many buildings in London, in ...

whose name appears inscribed atop the arch. He himself is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

. It was then taken over by the then

Metropolitan Borough of Kensington The Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965, which since 1901 was known as the Royal Borough of Kensington, following the death of Queen Victoria, in accordance with her wishes. His ...

and they opened another cemetery, nearby at

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

in 1926. It is now owned by the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

Ecology

Before the

Inclosure Acts The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...

, this ground was the deep, rich, common land, known as East Field. The land is drained by a very small brook which rises from a spring in nearby Milton Road just to the north. This flows unseen now, through a culvert that runs under the grounds towards the Uxbridge Road in the south. Its distance from main roads, the shelter given by the trees and general lack of busy activity, makes this a very peaceful place. It is no wonder therefore, that the cemetery has become something of a sanctuary for wild birds. The London Borough of Ealing views it as part of a conservation corridor with that of its neighbouring cemetery the Westminster City Cemetery, Hanwell on the opposite side of the Uxbridge Road.

Notable interments

John Conolly John Conolly (27 May 1794 – 5 March 1866) was an English psychiatrist. He published the volume ''Indications of Insanity'' in 1830. In 1839, he was appointed resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum where he introduced the princip ...

(1794–1866) Pioneering psychiatrist and superintendent of the

Hanwell Asylum St Bernard's Hospital, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum and the Hanwell Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, was an asylum built for the pauper insane, opening as the First Middlesex County Asylum in 1831. Some of the original buildings are now part of ...

. He was buried here when it was still permitted for local residents to also be interred in these ground. * Marta Cunningham (1869–1937), founder of the Not Forgotten Associatio

in 1921 to support ex-servicemen from the Great War which is still running today. *

James Charles Inglis Sir James Charles Inglis (9 September 1851 – 19 December 1911) was a British civil engineer. Early life Inglis was born in Aberdeen on 9 September 1851. Career He began his engineering career in Glasgow, before moving to London in 1871, ...

(1851–1911) who was a British civil engineer. It is a very tall memorial, which also features his likeness in carved relief in the style of a medallion. * Sir

Francis McClintock Sir Francis Leopold McClintock (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. He confirmed explorer John Rae's controversial report gather ...

(1819–1907), Irish Arctic explorer who led the 1857–59 expedition that confirmed the fate of Sir

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through ...

. * General Sir Charles Reid (1818–1901) East India Company officer. *

Edgar Albert Smith Edgar Albert Smith (29 November 1847 – 22 July 1916) was a British zoologist, a malacologist. His father was Frederick Smith, a well-known entomologist, and assistant keeper of zoology in the British Museum, Bloomsbury. Edgar Albert Smith ...

(1847–1916), conchologist. * Sir

Charles Ash Windham General Sir Charles Ash Windham (10 October 1810 – 2 February 1870) was a British Army officer and Liberal Party politician. Biography Educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Windham was commissioned as an ensign in the Coldstream ...

(1810–1870) – "Hero of the Redan".

Gallery

File:Edgar Albert Smith.jpeg, Edgar Albert Smith (1847–1916), British zoologist. File:John conolly grave 67.jpg, John Conolly (1794–1866), pioneering psychiatrist. Also buried at the cemetery are 65 Commonwealth service personnel of both

World Wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

, many buried in a war graves plot with

CWGC The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

headstones. A Screen Wall memorial lists those buried in graves that could not be marked by headstones.
CWGC Cemetery report.

References

External links

* Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelse
Hanwell Cemetery
Official site. Accessed 2010-11-12 * Find a grave
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cemetery, Hanwell
Accessed 2010-11-12 {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Borough Of Kensington And Chelsea Cemetery, Hanwell Cemeteries in London Anglican cemeteries in the United Kingdom Geography of the London Borough of Ealing Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Ealing History of the London Borough of Ealing Hanwell Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England 1855 establishments in England 1855 in London History of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea