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The ICCM Journal | Autumn 2020 | V88 No. 3
the cemetery chapel A very English building A typical example is at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire which dates from 1868. Here the chapels are joined by a large central spire. Many chapels had a bell that could be tolled for a fee upon the arrival of a funeral. The chapels in Biggleswade Cemetery, Bedfordshire. Constructed in 1839, the chapels at Highgate Cemetery were the first to be joined by a porte cochère.
When ‘the magnificent Seven’ cemeteries opened in London between 1832 and 1841, each company constructed a chapel or chapels for a service to take place prior to burial. Section 11 of the Cemeteries Clauses Act 1847, under which a number were opened, empowered ‘…the owning company to build such chapels as they may think fit…’1 Brompton, Nunhead and Abney Park had a single chapel, whilst at Highgate, Kensal Green, Tower Hamlets and West Norwood two were provided, one for Church of England services, with the other being for Nonconformist, Roman Catholic and other denominations. At all except Highgate, the two chapels were situated separately from one another whereas the building in Swain’s Lane comprises two chapels joined by a porte cochère; a covered area linking the entrance doors to each chapel, designed to protect the hearse and mourners from inclement weather. This feature has come to be recognised as a hallmark of English cemetery architecture. Chapels joined by a porte cochère don’t exist in Scotland, although there are a small number in Wales, so it’s not quite exclusive to England. This architectural device was adopted by architects engaged by Burial Boards, not only in London following the Burial Act 1852 but also throughout England and Wales after the Act was broadened the following year. Many submitted designs as part of a competition, which would often have included ancillary structures including a lodge, a boundary wall and possibly a mortuary. Whilst most are in what can loosely be called a ‘Gothic’ style (Highgate being in ‘Undertakers’ Gothic’), they all vary in terms of layout, linking arrangements and external decoration. Large numbers of these chapels can still be seen in cemeteries. Some continue to be used for their original purpose, whilst others are in a very poor state or their use has changed through being adapted for cremation or another purpose. Inevitably, some have disappeared. Historic and contemporary images give us an insight into the variety of this very English building type.
The large chapels in Sheffield’s Burngreave Cemetery.
Buildings varied in size according to the anticipated number of burials and also the financial resources of the Burial Board. There are impressively sized chapels at Belper in Derbyshire, Stapleford in Nottingham, Hampstead in north London and at Sheffield’s Burngreave Cemetery.
At Harton Cemetery in South Shields you can find these fine chapels described by Historic England as being in a ‘…free late gothic manner with Tudor overtones’.
