Inventory Site Record

Lavender Hill is so-called for the lavender that was once grown in this area. Lavender Hill Burial Board was set up in 1871 and opened the 9-acre Lavender Hill Cemetery in 1872, with two chapels, one Anglican and the other Nonconformist, and a stone lodge at the main entrance. It was well-planted with trees and the layout of serpentine walks and roads remains today. The cemetery was enlarged in 1897 by 3 acres, and has since been further enlarged. To the north the site becomes a more open area with fewer trees and accommodates recent burials.

Previous / Other name:

Enfield Cemetery

Site location:

Cedar Road, Enfield

Postcode:

EN2

What 3 Words:

toxic.lace.march

Type of site:

Cemetery

Borough:

Enfield

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

9am (M-Sat)/10am (Sun/BH) -4pm (Dec/Jan);-4.30pm (Nov/Feb); 5.30pm (Mar/Apr/Sep/Oct);-7pm/7.30 Sun/BHs (May-Aug)

Special conditions:

Facilities:

toilets

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: Gordon Hill. Bus: W8

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2011

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.enfield.gov.uk

Lavender Hill is so-called because lavender was once grown in this area. Lavender Hill Burial Board was set up in 1871 and the 9-acre cemetery was opened on 27 July 1872 on part of the Hundred Acres which belonged to the parish. The cemetery lay-out and its buildings were designed by Mr T J Hill, architect of Enfield, at a cost of around £9,000. The buildings consist of two mirror-image chapels, one Anglican and the other Nonconformist, and a stone lodge on the main entrance on Cedar Road, which has stone gate piers and wrought iron gates. The western Non-Conformist chapel later became a store.

The cemetery was planted with numerous conifers and other trees and shrubs throughout, with Cedars, Wellingtonia and other ornamental conifers on the slopes, as well as oak, lime, horse chestnut further north. The original layout of serpentine walks and roadways also remains, now tarmac. At the junction of some of these paths are early monuments dating from the 1870s, including that of William Buzzard (d.1877) with an urn on a red granite plinth; the Celtic Cross for Benjamin Godfrey (d.1872); and a large chest tomb for James Whatman Bosanquet (d.1877) of Claysmore, who was instrumental in the building of St John the Baptist Church at Clay Hill (q.v.). Philip Twells, MP (d.1880) has a monument near the Anglican chapel; a banker in the City of London, Twells had purchased the Chase Side House estate in Enfield in 1865, which remained in the family until the death of Mrs Twells in 1898, following which part of the estate was purchased by Enfield UDC and became the site of the new Library and Town Park (q.v.).

The cemetery was enlarged in 1897 by a further 3 acres, and has since been further enlarged. To the north the cemetery becomes a more open area with some trees planted and more recent burials. Now under the administration of the London Borough of Enfield, a new cemetery site of 4.99 hectares, Strayfield Road Extension, was opened in 1997 nearby, reached via a country lane from Lavender Hill Cemetery; it is next to an old Nursery at Clay Hill, abutting Hillyfields Park (q.v.)

Sources consulted:

Revd George Hodson (Church History) and Edward Ford (General History), 'A History of Enfield in the County of Middlesex including its Royal and Ancient Manors, the Chase and the Duchy of Lancaster, with Notices of its Worthies, and its Natural History, Etc. Also an account of The Church and the Charities, and a History of the New River' (Enfield Press, printed by J H Meyers, 1873); C Webb, revised ed. of P Wolfston,' Greater London Cemeteries and Crematoria', Society of Genealogists, 3rd ed. 1994; Arthur Mee 'The King's England: London North of the Thames except the City and Westminster', (Hodder & Stoughton, 1972); Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 4: North (Penguin, 1998); Edward Walford, 'Village London, the Story of Greater London, Part 2 - North and East', first published 1883/4 (1985 ed., The Alderman Press).

Grid ref:

TQ319981 (531827,198195)

Size in hectares:

11.62

Site ownership:

LB Enfield

Site management:

Place Shaping and Enterprise, Parks Business Unit

Date(s):

1872

Designer(s):

T J Hill

Listed structures:

LBII: Western (Nonconformist) Chapel and attached urinal; Eastern (Anglican) Chapel; Cemetery Lodge and attached railings and gates on Cedar Road.

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

No

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:

No

Green Belt:

Yes

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

Yes - Enfield Chase Heritage Area AOSC (Area of Special Character)

Other LA designation:

Included in Local Register of Historic Parks and Gardens