Inventory Site Record

St Mary's Cemetery opened in 1860, set up by St Mary's Burial Board in an area that was once part of Wandsworth Common. An L-shaped site, the cemetery was laid out on a grid pattern and still has its original cast iron entrance gates and brick gate piers, the gates decorated with religious motifs. The entrance lodge has been rebuilt but the small Gothic chapels remain, with porte-cochère between.

Previous / Other name:

Battersea St Mary's Cemetery; Battersea Rise Cemetery

Site location:

Battersea Rise/Bolingbroke Grove

Postcode:

SW11 1HE

What 3 Words:

movie.blame.view

Type of site:

Cemetery

Borough:

Wandsworth

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

Nov-Feb: Mon-Sat 8am-4pm/Sun 10am-4pm; Mar/Oct: closure at 5pm; April/Sept: closure at 6pm; May - August closure at 7pm. Christmas Day 10am-1pm

Special conditions:

Facilities:

none

Events:

Public transport:

Rail/London Overground: Clapham Junction. Bus: 77, 219

Citymapper    
Google Map    
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Research updated:

01/05/2005

Last minor changes:

14/07/2022

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

The site of the cemetery was at the corner of Battersea Rise and a lane then called The Five Houses Lane, which presumably referred to houses facing onto the common. Some building on Battersea Rise had taken place by the early 1870s and by the end of the C19th the whole area to the east of the Common had been developed. Hugh Meller remarks upon the poetry of the epitaphs on various tombstones 'emanating it seems from a local school of poets', a number of which carry inscriptions relating to railway deaths at Clapham Junction. Among those buried here were John Burns (d.1943), Liberal politician and MP for Battersea from 1892-1914 who was responsible for the building of the Latchmere Estate where a road is named after him; Henry Meyer (d.1865) the ornithologist who published 'Illustrations of British Birds' in 1835-43; Sir William Rose who was MP for Southampton in 1862-5 and Lord Mayor of London from 1862-63; William Bishop (d.1961) who established the Wellcome Historical Medical Library in 1949 and published works on medical history such as a Dictionary of Medical Biography; and Kaikhoshru Puntheki, a Parsee lawyer from Bombay who has a large urn on his tomb. There are planted areas of flower beds and various trees, including avenue of ornamental cherries.

Sources consulted:

Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons, 'London Cemeteries, An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer', 4th edition (The History Press, 2008); LB Wandsworth, Wandsworth Common Conservation Area Character Statement

Grid ref:

TQ272749 (527238,174972)

Size in hectares:

3.3

Site ownership:

LB Wandsworth

Site management:

Central Cemeteries Office

Date(s):

1860

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LB: wall

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:

Wandsworth Common

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Local Importance

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

Yes

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Public Open Space/Cemetery

St Mary's Cemetery, Battersea - Chapels - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 14/05/20 14:38

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