“For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen;
Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green”

Kensal Green Cemetery was immortalised in G.K Chesterton’s poem, ‘The Rolling English Road’ and is one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries of London. It was inspired by Pére Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and was the first commercial cemetery in London opening in 1833. The cemetery was founded by the barrister George Frederick Carden and a competition was held to design its layout. This was won by Henry Edward Kendall however the chairman of the General Cemetery Company persuaded their surveyor, John Griffith, to design in a more Greek Revival Style. The cemetery is non-denominational though most of the burials are Anglican. The grounds and planting of the cemetery were seen as essential for the overall aesthetic and was designed by Hugh Ronolds who modified the rigid landscaping style with formal avenues wide enough for carriages and informal elements that encouraged wildlife. Indeed, to this day two sections of the cemetery are regarded as conservation areas with at least 33 species of bird and other wildlife. The cemetery is home to two chapels, one for Anglicans and another for Dissenters and three distinct catacombs. There are over 250,000 burials at Kensal Green and 65,000 graves, it is still in operation however cremations are significantly more common than internments. The cemetery is the final resting place of hundreds of the nobility and famous individuals such as engineers Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel who designed the first tunnel under the Thames, with Isambard also designing the first purpose built transatlantic steamship alongside dockyards, the great western railway and is considered one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history. Other burials include mathematician Charles Babbage, novelists Anthony Trollope and William Makepeace Thackeray. Also interred are Oscar Wilde’s mother and the original WH Smith! More recent burials are that of Nobel Prize Winner Harold Pinter and Pete Burns of the band Dead or Alive who was cremated and to whom a memorial stands in Kensal Green. From an Irish perspective the graveyard is the final resting place of footballer Patrick O’Connell who captained Manchester United and Ireland in the 1910s and managed Barcelona FC during the Spanish Civil War before dying destitute in London in 1959 and was buried in an unmarked grave, a memorial fund has been established for a monument to recognise his life and burial. There are also rumours that Freddie Mercury’s ashes are interred at Kensal green. Due to the atmospheric nature of the cemetery its been used in a wide variety of TV and Film including one of my favourites films Vincent Price’s ‘Theatre of Blood’, and two Richard Burton classics ‘Look Back in Anger’ and ‘Villian’. A visit to Kensal Green is wholeheartedly recommended if you are looking for an interesting cemetery without the busyness of Highgate.

GPS: 51.52798, -0.21756