St Mary's Catholic Cemetery is located on

Harrow Road Harrow Road is an ancient route in London, North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow, London, Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queen's Park, London, Queens Par ...

Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...

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England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It has its own Catholic chapel. The cemetery, founded in 1858, is the resting place of over 165,000 Roman Catholics. The 29-acre cemetery has memorials for Belgian soldiers and Commonwealth service personnel from both World Wars, along with numerous foreign nationality war graves. Notable burials include British spy Peter Ashmun Ames, conductor Sir John Barbirolli, and activist

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

. The cemetery, which is open year-round, features a chapel used for funeral and memorial services. Visitors can consult computerized burial records dating back to 1858 at the cemetery office.

History

Established in 1858, the site was built next door to

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 is the final resting place for more than 165,000 individuals of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith, and features
memorial
to Belgian soldiers of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, wounded in combat and evacuated to England, where they died in hospital. There is also a War Memorial, in the form of
Cross of Sacrifice
to the British, Irish, French, Czechoslovakian and Canadian servicemen. It is surrounded by a Screen Wall memorial and a low kerb listing Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars whose graves in the cemetery could not be marked by headstones. In all, the cemetery contains 208 graves of Commonwealth service personnel of the First World War, and 107 graves of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. There are also many foreign nationality war graves that include, from First World War, 77 Belgians and six Germans, and from the Second, eight

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

n and six Polish war graves.CWGC Cemetery Report
Breakdown of foreign war graves from casualty record. Many Irish migrants who came to England during the Great Famine are buried here.

Notable interments

* Peter Ashmun Ames (1888–1920), British spy * Sir John Barbirolli (1899–1970), orchestral conductor * Marmaduke Barton (1865–1938), pianist and professor at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

* John Chippendall Montesquieu Bellew (1823–1874), Preacher, reciter, and author * Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte (1813–1891), statesman, philologist * Frank Brangwyn (1867–1956), artist *

Louis Brennan Louis Brennan (28 January 1852 – 17 January 1932) was an Irish-Australian mechanical engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the Brennan Torpedo, one of the earliest wire-guided torpedoes, which was adopted by the British Army i ...

(1852–1932), mechanical engineer and inventor * Lizzie Burns (1827–1878), wife of

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.William Pitt Byrne (1806–1861), newspaper editor and proprietor of ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning ...

'' *

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir John Cowans (1862–1921),

Quartermaster-General to the Forces The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

– buried at Terrace 130 * Anne Crawford (1920–1956), actress of stage, radio and film * Major Thomas Crean (1873–1923), VC recipient in

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

* Fr Martin Cyril D'Arcy SJ (1888-1976) English philosopher, Roman Catholic cleric, college administrator and religious art collector * Frances C. Fairman (1839–1923), English animal painter and illustrator * James Grant (1822–1887), Scottish author, historian, artist and architect *

(1887–1940), Jamaican political activist – initially buried in catacombs beneath the chapel, later reburied in King George VI Memorial Park,

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica. * Gilbert Harding (1907–1960), journalist, radio and TV personality * Percy Hardy (1880–1916),

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er; committed suicide while serving during World War I. * Josef Jakobs (1898–1941), German spy – unmarked grave * William Keatinge (1869–1934), military chaplain and bishop * Andrzej Kowerski (aka Andrew Kennedy) (1912–1988), decorated Polish soldier and spy * Danny La Rue (1927–2009), cabaret artist, nightclub owner, actor * Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907), sculptor * Father Vincent McNabb, O.P. (1868–1943), Irish scholar and priest *

Henry Edward Manning Henry Edward Manning (15 July 1808 – 14 January 1892) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but co ...

(1808–1892), Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (later transferred to

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

) * Alice Meynell (1847–1922), poet and essayist * Victoria Monks (1884–1927), music hall singer * The Lord Morris (1859–1935),

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

* Patrick O'Connell (1887-1959), Irish football player and manager * Major General Sir Luke O'Connor (1831–1915), VC recipient in

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

* T. P. O'Connor (1848–1929), Irish journalist and politician * Carlo Pellegrini (1839–1889), caricaturist * Sir

Max Pemberton Sir Max Pemberton (19 June 1863 – 22 February 1950) was a popular English novelist and publisher working mainly in the adventure and mystery genres.LeRoy Lad Panek, ''After Sherlock Holmes: The Evolution of British and American Detective St ...

(1863–1950), author, journalist and editor * Lieutenant Colonel James Henry Reynolds (1844–1932), VC recipient and medical officer at Rorke's Drift *

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...

(1883–1959), author, creator of "Dr. Fu Manchu" *

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu, E. N. (2012), "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), pp. 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British Nursing, nurse and Women in business ...

(1805–1881) nurse, humanitarian *

Krystyna Skarbek Maria Krystyna Janina Skarbek, (, ; 1 May 1908 – 15 June 1952), also known as Christine Granville, was a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. She became celebrated for her daring exploi ...

(aka Christine Granville) (1908–1952), Polish SOE agent and World War II heroine * Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867), marine painter * Władysław Studnicki (1867–1953), Polish politician and publicist * Francis Thompson (1859–1907), poet, literary critic * Louis Wain (1860–1939), artist *

Nicholas Wiseman Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was an English Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1 ...

(1802–1865), Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (later transferred to

)

The chapel

* Th
cemetery's Catholic chapel
is used for funeral and memorial services. The walls have many memorial plaques. * The chapel was used in the filming of '' Miranda'' episode "Before I Die".

Access

The cemetery is open for visitors every day of the year.

Summer opening hours

Monday to Saturday – 8am to 5pm
Sunday – 9am to 5pm

Winter opening hours

Monday to Saturday – 8am to 4pm
Sunday – 9am to 4pm

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

and

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

– 9am to 1pm

Cemetery office

The office is closed on Bank Holidays and during summer months closing times can vary. The summer opening hours are in effect from early April to late October during UK

British Summer Time During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC+00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and eve ...

. The winter opening hours are for the rest of the year when the UK has

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being ...

Office hours

Office hours are Monday to Friday – 9am to 3pm. >Visitors may request the office staff consult the computerised records of all interments in St Mary's Catholic Cemetery (from 1858 to date).

References

External links

Pastscape (English Heritage National Monuments record online)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery Cemeteries in London Roman Catholic cemeteries in England and Wales Religion in the London Borough of Brent Religious organizations established in 1858 Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Brent Catholic organizations established in the 19th century 1858 establishments in England Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England Kensal Green