| Mortlake Cemetery | Richmond |
Mortlake Cemetery was built to provide for Hammersmith burials when the old cemetery on Margravine Road was full. It was originally designed on a grander scale but the funds ran out and only one small Gothic brick chapel was built, although the original planting had great variety and there are numerous trees in the cemetery. In 1939 Mortlake Crematorium was built to the north of Mortlake Cemetery.
The information shown above was correct at the time of the last update 01/11/2010
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The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
Mortlake Cemetery dates from the early C20th and was built to provide for Hammersmith burials when the old cemetery on Margravine Road (q.v.) was full, hence Mortlake Cemetery's occasional name as Hammersmith New Cemetery. It is on a triangular site between two busy roads, which was originally designed on a grander scale and to have two chapels, but the funds ran out and only one was built, a small Gothic brick chapel positioned centrally, adjacent to which is a slight mound of grass with brick steps and seating. Around the chapel circular paths are laid out, from which further paths radiate to the boundaries and to the main entrance on Clifford Avenue. This has 'two sets of fanciful gate piers with acorn finials' (Meller), and a brick and timbered lodge inside the gates. There are numerous trees throughout the cemetery and its original planting was 'lavish and extraordinarily varied'. Among those buried here are James Collins (d.1934), Secretary to the Treasury in Australia whose signature is on all Australian bank notes issued between 1910 and 1926, and Arthur Haynes, TV comedian who was TV Personality of the Year in 1961, who died in 1966. Adjacent to the cemetery to the north and separated by a tall hedge is Mortlake Crematorium (q.v.). In 1995 plans were underway to expand the cemetery on land between Clifford Avenue and the riverside since the cemetery was then full.
Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons, 'London Cemeteries, An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer', 4th edition (The History Press, 2008)