St Mary's Churchyard, Hendon or Hendon Churchyard is the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Hendon in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London borough ...

. It adjoins Sunny Hill Park, and it is part of the ''Sunny Hill Park and Hendon Churchyard'' Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation. The churchyard is important archaeologically, as Roman artifacts have been found on the site and there is evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlement. A church may have existed on the site as early as the ninth century, and there is an eleventh-century font still in use in the existing building. Parts of it date back to the thirteenth century, but there were successive alterations until it was extended in 1914–15. It has a memorial to

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

, the founder of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. The churchyard is well maintained, and it has many tombs and memorials in the grass, which is kept long in parts. There are fine cedar and yew trees. A line of headstones on either side of the path lead to the church door, and they form part of the best collection of eighteenth century headstones in London. Burials go back seven to eight hundred years, and as a result the soil contains fragments of bone. Part of it is gravelled, which is unusual in Christian graveyards. It is still open for cremation burials. According to a history of Hendon published in 1890, the earliest surviving grave is that of Thomas Marsh dated 1624. Fine monuments include the grave of the engraver Abraham Raimbach, the physician James Parsons and

Emily Augusta Patmore Emily Augusta Patmore ( Andrews; 29 February 1824 – 5 July 1862) was a British author, Pre-Raphaelite muse and the inspiration for the 1854-1862 poem ''The Angel in the House''. Early life and education Emily Augusta Andrews was born on 29 ...

, writer and the wife and muse of poet

Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 – 26 November 1896) was an English poet and literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry '' The Angel in the House'', a narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage. ...

. Edward Longmore, a famous 7 foot 6 inch giant, was buried there in 1777, but his body was stolen by grave robbers. A twentieth century grave (pictured right) is of

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

, the pre-war manager of

Arsenal Football Club Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (incl ...

. There are twenty Commonwealth service personnel buried in the churchyard, eleven from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and nine from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, most of whose graves could not be located so they are commemorated by a special memorial. Gravestone of Tom Crosfield

The churchyard also holds the burial of the medic Robert Thomas Crosfield: an alleged conspirator in the Popgun Plot against

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. The following is inscribed on his memorial – There is access to the churchyard from Church End and Church Terrace.

Notes

External links

London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Mary, Hendon: Hendon Church End, Barnet

The Parish of St Mary and Christ Church, Hendon, home page

See also

Notes

External links

Further reading