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 r ...

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England.

History

Although located in the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London boroughs, London borough in London, England. It comprises the districts of Acton, London, Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale and Southall. With a population of 367,100 inhabitants, i ...

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

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a Church (building), 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 ne ...

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 ( 20 & 21 Vict. c. 81) 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 ...

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, Ealing Broadway. Although there is a long history of settlement in the area, West Ealing in its present form is less than one hundre ...

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 Kentish ragstone is a hard grey limestone in Kent, England, drawn from the geological sequence known as the Hythe Beds of the Lower Greensand. For millennia it has been quarried for use both locally and further afield. Geology Ragstone occurs ...

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 view, topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many bui ...

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 North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

. It was then taken over by the then

Metropolitan Borough of Kensington The Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, 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 Vict ...

and they opened another cemetery, nearby at Acton in 1926. It is now owned by the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

Ecology

Before the

Inclosure Acts The inclosure acts created legal property rights to land previously held in common in England and Wales, particularly open fields and common land. Between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts enclosing public land were passed, affecting 28,0 ...

, 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

* Sir Arthur Benn (1858–1937), British politician and businessman *

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 St Bernard's Hospital, Hanwell, Middlesex County Asylum ...

(1794–1866) Pioneering psychiatrist and superintendent of the Hanwell Asylum. He was buried here when it was still permitted for local residents to also be interred in these ground. *

Marta Cunningham Marta Cunningham CBE (December 1869 – June 25, 1937) was an American-born European-based soprano. Born in 1869 in Brazos County, Texas, United States, her parents were Albert Baxter and Martha Minerva Tharp Cunningham, both from DeSoto Parish, ...

(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, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

. * 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 and 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 Conchology, from Ancient Greek κόγχος (''kónkhos''), meaning "cockle (bivalve), cockle", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of mollus ...

. * 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 that involves most or all 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 War I (19 ...

, 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 mil ...

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