Inventory Site Record

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

This was the first publicly owned cemetery in London, and was established after the 1852 Metropolitan Interment Act when the St Pancras Burial Board bought over 35 hectares of Horse Shoe Farm on Finchley Common. The railings, gates and northern pair of gatehouses remain of the original buildings, as does the Anglican chapel erected in 1853 by the parishes of St Pancras and St Mary Islington. A further c.38 hectares were added in 1877 for Islington, and in 1896 an Anglican Chapel was built for St Mary Islington. The Crematorium was built in 1937. The large rambling site is bisected by many avenues, and has many fine trees including lime, cedar, monkey puzzle and cypress. There are many fine monuments, including the Mond Mausoleum.

Previous / Other name:

Islington and St Pancras Cemetery

Site location:

High Road, East Finchley

Postcode:

N2 9AG

What 3 Words:

venues.causes.jobs

Type of site:

Cemetery

Borough:

Barnet

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

Daily: 9am - 4pm (winter)/ - 5pm (summer); Xmas Day 10am-2pm

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Toilets; free bus service within grounds at weekends and on bank holidays

Events:

Public transport:

Tube: East Finchley (Northern) then bus. Bus: 43, 263.

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2002

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.camden.gov.uk; www.islington.gov.uk

Site on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, for Register Entry see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list

This was the first publicly owned cemetery in London to be established after the 1852 Metropolitan Interment Act when the St Pancras Burial Board bought over 35 hectares of Horse Shoe Farm on Finchley Common. The only remnants of the original Gothic ragstone buildings by John Barnett and William Birch are a northern pair of gatehouses with railings and the Anglican chapel with central spire erected at the expense of the parishes of St Pancras and St Mary Islington in 1853. A further c.38 hectares of land were added in 1877 for Islington. The chapel served both parishes until 1896 when the Anglican Chapel was built by St Mary Islington, an Arts and Crafts Gothic building in brick and stone with a timber cupola, designed by Forsyth and Maule. The Crematorium was built in 1937, designed by Albert Freeman.

The large rambling site is bisected by many avenues, described in the late C19th as a 'beautiful park-like ground, with its splendid trees of ever varying tints' which include limes, cedars, monkey puzzles and cypress trees. Many areas of the cemetery are no longer in regular use and are now neglected and overgrown. There are many fine monuments, including the Mond Mausoleum for the industrial chemist Ludwig Mond, Lord Melchett who bequeathed paintings by Italian old masters to the National Gallery (d.1909), based on the Temple of Nemesis Rhamnus, it is an enormous grey granite and stone Ionic temple, superbly sited on a tree lined slope, designed by Darcy Braddell. South of the Islington Chapel is a monument in the form of a classical temple for Henry Carter (d.1876). Two monuments in Mausoleum Road commemorate the Penfold Family and the Davey Family (1882), a gothic structure with a steep roof of stone slabs. The cemetery has C19th railings and gatepiers.

Sources consulted:

Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons, 'London Cemeteries, An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer', 4th edition (The History Press, 2008); Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 4: North (Penguin, 1998); Jan Hewlett, Ian Yarham, David Curson, 'Nature Conservation in Barnet', London Ecology Unit, 1997; John Richardson, 'A History of Camden. Hampstead, Holborn and St Pancras' (Historical Publications Ltd, 1999)

Grid ref:

TQ269903 (527213,190640)

Size in hectares:

74

Site ownership:

LBs Camden & Islington

Site management:

Islington Cemeteries and Crematorium

Date(s):

1852-55; 1877; 1937

Designer(s):

John Barnett and William Birch

Listed structures:

LBII: Church of England Chapel, Mond Mausoleum; Gatehouses

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

Yes

NHLE grade:

Grade II*

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

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.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Borough Importance II

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

Yes

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

St Pancras and Islington Cemetery and Crematorium, Islington Chapel, August 2000. Photo: S Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.