Description
The cemetery appears to have originated in c.1786 as a small burial plot donated by King George III, who also endowed the workhouse nearby. In 1853 steps were taken to acquire the cemetery for municipal use, although Richmond Burial Board was not formed until 1868. Between 1868 and 1890 the cemetery was enlarged several times, with further extensions in 1898 and 1902. Adjacent and contiguous with Richmond Cemetery is East Sheen Cemetery. The cemetery contains numerous mature trees including yew and cypress, particularly in the older part, and the more open grassed area is surrounded by horse chestnuts, lime, false acacia and ash, with yew and holly throughout. There are numerous interesting tombs commemorating people in all walks of life, including a number of local and national dignitaries.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Richmond Old Cemetery |
|---|---|
| Site location | Lower Grove Road, Richmond |
| Postcode | TW10 |
| What3Words | ///beans.ridge.goad |
| Type of Site | Cemetery |
| Borough | Richmond |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 10am-4.30pm (November - March); 10am - 6.30pm (April - October) |
| Public Transport | Rail: North Sheen. Rail/London Overground/Tube (District): Richmond. Bus: 33, 337, 493 |
| Research Updated | 1 June 2009 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
In the C18th King George III had a farm to the west of East Sheen Common near the parish boundary and King's Ride recalls the route from Kew Palace to the farm and Richmond Park. The oldest part of Richmond Cemetery has mature trees, a decayed gothic chapel in the cemetery itself and a restored gothic chapel at the entrance gate. There are many interesting tombs and the site was rural and picturesque, not unlike Highgate Cemetery (q.v.), albeit on a much smaller scale. Present day management techniques have allowed brambles to proliferate and obscure many of the historic tombs. Parallel to the eastern boundary wall is a lower wall, and between the two is a strip of land or 'deer leap' of the adjacent Richmond Park (q.v.), created to safeguard the park boundaries.
King George III apparently provided 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres) for burial purposes in c.1786, and to the south-west, and separated from the burial plot by open ground, was the workhouse of 1786 with the inscription over the main entrance that it was provided 'by the munificence of H M King George III'. The OS Map of 1865 shows the cemetery as a simple square plot divided into four squares by footpaths. The OS Map of 1879 shows the site between the original plot and the workhouse laid out on a grid, and by 1893-94 another new extension was in existence to the north, also laid out on a grid. The OS Map of 1893/4 no longer shows the C18th layout of footpaths in the original burial plot although these partially reappear on subsequent maps.
Richmond Cemetery had two gothic chapels: the nonconformist ragstone chapel in Early English Gothic style and to the south of this is the C of E chapel, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1875. The nonconformist chapel is in private ownership and was restored in the 1990s, now outside the entrance gate on Grove Road following repositioning of the gates. The Anglican chapel is also gothic in style constructed in squared hammer-dressed Kentish ragstone with Bath stone bands and enrichments, with a buttressed gable front, the entrance inscribed with the words: 'In the Garden was a new sepulchre, there laid they Jesus'. By the 1990s the chapel was in a poor state of repair and used as a tool store, but since restored and very little of the grid pattern of paths was visible by the mid 1990s, the cemetery much overgrown with brambles.
Interesting tombs include engraver William Harvey's granite tomb of 1866 lying at a steep angle with an incised palette on top of one of the sides. Among those buried here is Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1837-1915), a prolific popular novelist of the 'sensationalist' school, admired by Queen Victoria, whose best-known novel, 'Lady Audley's Secret' began serialisation in 1862 in the Robin Goodfellow Magazine and then the Sixpenny Magazine. She lived in Lichfield House, Sheen Road with John Maxwell, publisher, who she married in 1874; he invested in property in the King's Road area of Richmond and named certain streets after characters in her novels including Marchmont Road and Audley Road. Lichfield House was demolished and the 1930s block of flats on the site of the house remain today.
King George III apparently provided 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres) for burial purposes in c.1786, and to the south-west, and separated from the burial plot by open ground, was the workhouse of 1786 with the inscription over the main entrance that it was provided 'by the munificence of H M King George III'. The OS Map of 1865 shows the cemetery as a simple square plot divided into four squares by footpaths. The OS Map of 1879 shows the site between the original plot and the workhouse laid out on a grid, and by 1893-94 another new extension was in existence to the north, also laid out on a grid. The OS Map of 1893/4 no longer shows the C18th layout of footpaths in the original burial plot although these partially reappear on subsequent maps.
Richmond Cemetery had two gothic chapels: the nonconformist ragstone chapel in Early English Gothic style and to the south of this is the C of E chapel, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1875. The nonconformist chapel is in private ownership and was restored in the 1990s, now outside the entrance gate on Grove Road following repositioning of the gates. The Anglican chapel is also gothic in style constructed in squared hammer-dressed Kentish ragstone with Bath stone bands and enrichments, with a buttressed gable front, the entrance inscribed with the words: 'In the Garden was a new sepulchre, there laid they Jesus'. By the 1990s the chapel was in a poor state of repair and used as a tool store, but since restored and very little of the grid pattern of paths was visible by the mid 1990s, the cemetery much overgrown with brambles.
Interesting tombs include engraver William Harvey's granite tomb of 1866 lying at a steep angle with an incised palette on top of one of the sides. Among those buried here is Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1837-1915), a prolific popular novelist of the 'sensationalist' school, admired by Queen Victoria, whose best-known novel, 'Lady Audley's Secret' began serialisation in 1862 in the Robin Goodfellow Magazine and then the Sixpenny Magazine. She lived in Lichfield House, Sheen Road with John Maxwell, publisher, who she married in 1874; he invested in property in the King's Road area of Richmond and named certain streets after characters in her novels including Marchmont Road and Audley Road. Lichfield House was demolished and the 1930s block of flats on the site of the house remain today.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ190744 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | LB Richmond |
| Site Management | Environment Planning and Review, Cemeteries Office |
| Dates | c.1786, 1853; 1868-90, 1903 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: C of E Chapel (Blomfield) |
| 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 | Richmond |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Local Importance (with ESheen Cem/Pesthse C) |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Grove Road Gardens are public gardens adjacent to Richmond Old Cemetery. At one time known as Grove Road Pleasure Ground, it appears to have existed as public open space by 1885. By the mid 1890s it was laid out with perimeter trees and winding paths in much the same layout as today. Among the fine mature trees are conifers and monkey puzzle, and a drinking fountain donated by the Metropolitan Cattle Trough and Drinking Fountain Association is in the north corner. The gardens' square sectioned railings and gate are no longer in place although one of the gate piers, albeit damaged, remained.
The site is shown in 1893/4 as woodland and opened as Barnes Cemetery in 1905. In 1913 the northern triangular section of the site was laid out as the cemetery while to the south was a nursery. The cemetery is linked to the main road to the north by an avenue of plane trees, with a lodge at the entrance and a mortuary chapel on the south boundary. In the 1930s the area to the south of Barnes Cemetery was laid out on a grid and the cemetery was subsequently renamed East Sheen Cemetery. Although it now forms a continuous area of graves with Richmond Cemetery, the old Barnes Cemetery boundary is still clearly defined by a holly hedge. The cemetery contains various fine trees, clumps of pampas grass, with yews behind the chapel and on either side of the main roadway between the entrance on Kings Ride Gardens and the chapel.
Pesthouse Common was part of the extensive common land in this area, its name suggesting a connection with a plague hospital. In 1785 King George III gave the parish certain parts of Pesthouse Common as compensation for shutting public rights of way up Love Lane when he was improving Richmond Park. Mature lime and horse chestnut trees border the site.
