Kensal Green - a Magnificent Seven London cemetery

Kensal Green cemetery was the 4th of the Magnificent Seven London cemeteries that I have visited. The last one I visited prior to this was Tower Hamlets.

Kensal Green is located in northwest London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is on the Bakerloo underground line. The cemetery was originally known as the General Cemetery of All Souls, and is the oldest of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries and it is still in operation. It was opened in 1833.

The cemetery is quite long but narrow. I went in the West Gate. To the west of that is the St Mary's Cemetery and the West London crematorium. Along the southern border is the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

The cemetery is in Neoclassical style, (this began in the mid 18th century in Italy and France). There are a large number of Gothic monuments and some large mausoleums. A lot of structures are listed and the cemetery is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

A lot of structures had the entrance bricked up like this one, of Gen. Sir John Aitchison GCB (1789-1875). To the left is the mausoleum of H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904)

This one is interesting, the grave of Andrew Ducrow (1793-1842). He was a circus performer and horse-rider and often called the "Father of British circus equestrianism". It is on the Main Avenue and one of the most decorated tombs in the cemetery with pagan decorations from Greek and Egyptian sources, hence the Sphinx.

Another ornate grave, Gen. Sir William Casement (1780-1844), of the Bengal Army.

Gas holder at Kensington gas works.

Athough there are a lot of notable burials in the cemetery, the main one I was interested in was that of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was one of England's most notable civil engineers. He worked on The Thames Tunnel, and places I know well - the Clifton Suspension Bridge at Bristol, the Great Western Railway including the Box Tunnel. He died aged 53 in 1859.

I was expecting (hoping for) a really elaborate grave so was quite disappointed when I found it is just a family site, and his name is just one of many on the headstone.

And on the side of the headstone are names of more recent burials, the great granddaughter of
I.K. Brunel.

The gravestone has been restored and cleaned, after suffering from subsidence.
See more on Brunel's grave.


Kensal Green Cemetery webpage.