Inventory Site Record

Burial ground for the Moravian Church established here by Count Zinzendorf, Bishop of the Moravians. In 1750 Zinzendorf had purchased Lindsey House and the grounds of Beaufort House, both once part of Sir Thomas More's Chelsea estate. The burial ground, on the stable yard of Beaufort House and having remnants of Tudor brick walls, was exempted from closure after the Burial Act of 1855 and around 400 people have been interred since 1751.

Previous / Other name:

God's Acre

Site location:

381 Milman's Street, off King's Road

Postcode:

SW10 0LP

What 3 Words:

avoid.blues.mime

Type of site:

Cemetery

Borough:

Kensington & Chelsea

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

Exhibition Centre open Wed afternoons or by appointment

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Has opened for Open House London

Public transport:

Tube: Fulham Broadway (District), Sloane Square (District, Circle) then bus. Bus: 11, 19, 22, 211

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/09/2017

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.moravian.org.uk

The Moravian Church originated as the Unitas Fratrum or Unity of the Brethren, established in Bohemia in 1457. The subsequent name arose in the C18th when these dissenting Protestants were expelled from Moravia and found refuge in 1727 with Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Upper Lusitania, which became their centre. Count Zinzendorf visited England for the first time in 1737, soon after which he was ordained Bishop of the Moravians. In 1742 the Archbishop of Canterbury granted the Moravian church a license and the Fetter Lane Congregation of the Moravian Church was founded in the City. Members of the Church had come to London to seek passage to the British colonies in the Caribbean to pursue their missionary work. While they waited to sail they began worshipping with like-minded Christians, who included the Wesley brothers, originally meeting in private houses before moving to the chapel off Fetter Lane in 1740.

In 1750 Count Zinzendorf acquired Lindsey House and the grounds of Beaufort House, once the estate of Sir Thomas More, employing Sigismuad Gersdorf as architect for a Chapel and Minister's House, which were completed in 1753. The Chapel replaced stable buildings and the burial ground, known as God's Acre, is on the site of the stable yard of Beaufort House. Lindsey House was originally the main farmhouse on Sir Thomas More's estate and, albeit much changed, remains as a rare survivor of the C16th. The Burial Ground is enclosed on the east and south by Tudor brick walls.

Count Zinzendorf had originally intended to use Lindsey House as the headquarters of the Moravian community but this was not achieved due to lack of sufficient funds and most of the land was eventually sold off in 1774; Lindsey House was sold in 1770 and subsequently reconfigured into Lindsey Row. However, the burial ground continued to be used and was exempted from closure under the Burial Act of 1855. Around 400 people have been interred since 1751, including James Gillray, father of the caricaturist. In the mid-1890s, Mrs Basil Holmes writes: 'The part actually used for interments is fenced in and closed. It is neatly kept, the tombstones being very small flat ones. . . (it) was closed by order of the Council about 8 years ago.' Between 1914 and 1964 the site was leased two sculptors Ernest (d.1951)and Mary (d.1965) Gillick, whose additions to the garden included a stone pergola and a bench decorated with the heraldic shields of the owners of the estate, from Sir Thomas More, for whom what became Beaufort House was built in 152, to Sir Hans Sloane, who had the house demolished in 1740. After 1964, the Moravian Church moved back to Chelsea, its Fetter Lane Chapel having been bombed in World War II, and remain here today.

The burial ground is laid out in four squares, each reserved for a particular group: married women; married men; single women; single men. The headstones are all the same size, since all are equal in death, and are laid flat in the grass. The square plot is surrounded by hedging with 4 fig trees in the centre; at the south of the site is the Gillicks' columned pergola and restored bench with heraldic shields. The headstone to an Eskimo boy called Nunak (1770-88) is located in the south-west corner of the site, buried outside the consecrated ground since he was unbaptised. He had been brought to England in c.1787 by Captain James Fraser (1746-1808), returning from Labrador where the Moravian missionaries were established. Sadly Nunak contracted smallpox, having little resistance to European diseases. There are plane trees around the perimeter wall of the cemetery and in front of the range of buildings is paved with circular patterns.

Sources consulted:

Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993); RBKC Cheyne Conservation Area Proposals Statement; Mrs Basil Holmes, The London Burial Grounds, London, 1896. See also https://baldwinhamey.wordpress.com/tag/nonconformists/.

Grid ref:

TQ267776 (526750,177620)

Size in hectares:

0.4135

Site ownership:

Fetter Lane Moravian Church

Site management:

Fetter Lane Moravian Church

Date(s):

1751

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII: Chapel and Minister's House; burial ground walls on north-east and south-west sides

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:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Cheyne

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Borough Importance II

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

Moravian Burial Ground, September 2017. Photograph Sally Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.