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| English Heritage Reference: | 1389243 |
|---|---|
| RBKC Reference: | |
| Property: | MONUMENT TO MARIA M THOMPSON, KENSAL GREEN CEMETERY |
| Street: | HARROW ROAD , W10 |
| Date: | 13/06/2001 |
| Grade: | II |
| Grouped: | GV |
| Description: | Summary of Building: Portland stone sarcophagus by J Browne, dated 1859. Reasons for Designation: The monument to Maria M Thompson is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: Artistic interest: one of the earliest and best neoclassical sarcophagi in the cemetery; Group value: with other listed monuments within the Grade I registered Kensal Green Cemetery. History: The Cemetery of All Souls at Kensal Green was the earliest of the large privately-run cemeteries established on the fringes of London to relieve pressure on overcrowded urban churchyards. Its founder George Frederick Carden intended it as an English counterpart to the great P�re-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, which he had visited in 1821. In 1830, with the financial backing of the banker Sir John Dean Paul, Carden established the General Cemetery Company, and two years later an Act of Parliament was obtained to develop a 55-acre site at Kensal Green, then among open fields to the west of the metropolis. An architectural competition was held, but the winning entry � a Gothic scheme by HE Kendall � fell foul of Sir John's classicising tastes, and the surveyor John Griffith of Finsbury was eventually employed both to lay out the grounds and to design the Greek Revival chapels, entrance arch and catacombs, which were built between 1834 and 1837. A sequence of royal burials, beginning in 1843 with that of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, ensured the cemetery�s popularity. It is still administered by the General Cemetery Company, assisted since 1989 by the Friends of Kensal Green. Details: Portland stone sarcophagus commemorating Maria M Thompson, died 1859. By J Browne (signed). It has: angle pilasters with Doric frieze; hatchments with palms on each end; pedimental cover with scrolls; and acanthus enrichment in tympana. The monument also commemorates Frederick Orlando Thompson Delmar (died 1895). |
| English Heritage Picture: | External Hyperlink to English Heritage photograph of this listed building |
