The Dissenters' Chapel in Kensal Green Cemetery
The Dissenters' Chapel (Grade II listed) was the earliest chapel to be permanently constructed, in 1834, after the long boundary wall around the Cemetery had been built.
The Anglican Chapel (grade1) was erected in 1836. Both chapels were designed by architect John Griffith of Finsbury (1796-1888) who favoured the Greek Revival style made fashionable by travellers and excavations in Greece.
The Dissenters’ Chapel stands over a catacomb in which coffins were deposited on iron racks accessed by stairs to the rear of the Chapel. There was a small vestry, now an office, behind the south colonnade, and on the other (north) side was a yard, currently occupied by an exhibition space and other modern facilities.
The design of the Chapel is based on that of the Temple on the Illissus River near Athens. The curved colonnades are drawn from the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos in Athens. Adopting this plan enabled Griffith to fit his Chapel neatly into a tight loop in the cemetery land. The Chapel commands views of the whole of the Dissenters' ground where non-Anglicans and those of other faiths might choose to be buried.
Restoration of the Chapel was based on Griffith's drawings which are owned by the General Cemetery Company. Pews face each other across the Chapel collegiate-style, with a minister's desk at the east end. The colour scheme dates from the 1860s, reflecting colours and motifs from Owen Jones' influential publication, The Grammar of Ornament.
The Chapel was originally lit by gas, with a small coal fire in the vestry. It fell out of use once the Crematorium was completed in 1939 and was repaired, with the new facilities, at the instigation of the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery and the Historic Chapels Trust in 1996/7.
The historic chapel now functions as a gallery space and is a tri-borough community space, serving The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, the City of Westminster and also the London Borough of Brent. The revival of The Dissenters’ Gallery will assist the cemetery's Friends of Kensal Green charity appeal to maintain the historic sarcophagi and restore the damaged wall.
For more information please visit http://dissentersgallery.com/
The Dissenters' Chapel (Grade II listed) was the earliest chapel to be permanently constructed, in 1834, after the long boundary wall around the Cemetery had been built.
The Anglican Chapel (grade1) was erected in 1836. Both chapels were designed by architect John Griffith of Finsbury (1796-1888) who favoured the Greek Revival style made fashionable by travellers and excavations in Greece.
The Dissenters’ Chapel stands over a catacomb in which coffins were deposited on iron racks accessed by stairs to the rear of the Chapel. There was a small vestry, now an office, behind the south colonnade, and on the other (north) side was a yard, currently occupied by an exhibition space and other modern facilities.
The design of the Chapel is based on that of the Temple on the Illissus River near Athens. The curved colonnades are drawn from the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos in Athens. Adopting this plan enabled Griffith to fit his Chapel neatly into a tight loop in the cemetery land. The Chapel commands views of the whole of the Dissenters' ground where non-Anglicans and those of other faiths might choose to be buried.
Restoration of the Chapel was based on Griffith's drawings which are owned by the General Cemetery Company. Pews face each other across the Chapel collegiate-style, with a minister's desk at the east end. The colour scheme dates from the 1860s, reflecting colours and motifs from Owen Jones' influential publication, The Grammar of Ornament.
The Chapel was originally lit by gas, with a small coal fire in the vestry. It fell out of use once the Crematorium was completed in 1939 and was repaired, with the new facilities, at the instigation of the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery and the Historic Chapels Trust in 1996/7.
The historic chapel now functions as a gallery space and is a tri-borough community space, serving The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, the City of Westminster and also the London Borough of Brent. The revival of The Dissenters’ Gallery will assist the cemetery's Friends of Kensal Green charity appeal to maintain the historic sarcophagi and restore the damaged wall.
For more information please visit http://dissentersgallery.com/