East Sheen Cemetery

East Sheen Cemetery
East Sheen Cemetery and chapel
Details
Established	1906
Location	East Sheen, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, TW10 5BJ
Country	England
Coordinates	51°27′29″N 0°17′03″W / 51.4580°N 0.2843°W / 51.4580; -0.2843
Type	Active
Owned by	Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council
Size	16 acres (6.5 hectares)
Website	www.richmond.gov.uk/east_sheen_cemetery
Find a Grave	East Sheen Cemetery

East Sheen Cemetery, originally known as Barnes Cemetery, is a

Many prominent people are buried in the cemetery, which contains several significant memorials. The most important monument in the cemetery is the memorial to George William Lancaster and his partner (who lived as his wife)^[1] by Sydney March — a bronze sculpture of an angel weeping over a stone sarcophagus dating from the 1920s, which is considered to be one of the most important sculptures of its type from the 20th century. Also significant are the memorial to Markham Buxton, a bronze relief on a stone stele by his son Alfred; a miniature walled garden commemorating Edouard Espinosa and his wife Eve Louise Kelland; and several other sculptures, both Christian-themed and secular. The cemetery also contains over 70 war graves, cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

History and setting

The cemetery, on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site, was first opened as Barnes Cemetery in 1905 or 1906, prior to which the area was woodland. The land in the area was historically owned by

East Sheen Cemetery enjoys protected status as a result of designation as Metropolitan Open Land and (jointly with Richmond Cemetery and Pesthouse Common) as a conservation area.^[2]

Memorials

Lancaster Memorial

East Sheen Cemetery contains several particularly noticeable memorials, the best-known of which is the Lancaster Memorial, dedicated to George William Lancaster, who died in January 1920, and his partner Louisa Mary, who was not married to Lancaster but took his surname

Other significant memorials in the cemetery include a marble sculpture of a soldier commemorating William Rennie O'Mahony (d. 1928), a silver-painted wooden dolphin,a glass circular disc memorial and a sculpture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and three lambs, and a mosaic of St Francis and Mary Magdalene on an illegible headstone.

Secular memorials include a carving of an aircraft on the grave of Royal Air Force Pilot Officer Denis Power (d. 1931), a maritime-themed memorial on the Hervey grave (1917), and a miniature walled garden commemorating Louise Espinosa and her husband Edouard.^[3]

Notable burials

Notable people buried in East Sheen Cemetery include:

• Clementina Black (1853–1922), writer, feminist and pioneering trade unionist^[11][12]
• Stephen Andrew Boyd, associate editor of The Sunday Times and compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List^[13]
• Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers (1858–1938), civil servant and a Pali and Buddhist scholar who, in later life, served as the Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge^[3][14]
• University College, London^[15]
• Husband and wife Edouard Espinosa (1871–1950) and Eve Louise Kelland (1889–1943), founders of the British Ballet Organization,^[3] now bbodance
• Sir Alec Martin, businessman^[3][16]
• Sir Ralph Moor, diplomat^[3][16]
• Sir Benjamin Morgan, engineer and economist^[3][16]
• Sir Frederick Wigan, 1st Baronet (1827–1907), merchant and High Sheriff of Surrey.^[3][16] There is a monument to him at Southwark Cathedral.

The cemetery also has a grave containing remains of victims of the 2002 Bali bombings.^{[citation needed]}

Actors and entertainers

• Roy Kinnear (1934–1988), actor^[3]
• Husband and wife
  sitcom Porridge, and Sheila Manahan (1924–1988), Irish actress,^[16] whose film roles were Ann Willingdon in Seven Days to Noon (1950),^[17] Esther's mother in The Story of Esther Costello (1957),^[18] and Mrs Jenkins in Only Two Can Play (1962)^[19][20]
• Sir John Martin-Harvey (1863–1944), actor^[3][16]
• William Ellsworth Robinson (stage name Chung Ling Soo), magician^[3][16]

Artists and sculptors

• Sir Miles de Montmorency, painter and art historian^[3][16]
• Ian Walters (1930–2006), sculptor,^[16] whose work included the statue in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire of Prime Minister Harold Wilson and a large head of Nelson Mandela, now outside the Royal Festival Hall, London

Soldiers

• Sir O'Moore Creagh, general and Victoria Cross recipient^[3]
• Arthur Donaldson, fighter pilot^[3]
• William Officer, major general and army doctor^[3]
• Hamilton Reed, major general and VC recipient^[21]
• Douglas Scott, major general and engineer^[3][16]
• Sir
  Michael Tighe, lieutenant-general^[3][16]

• 
  Chapel
• 
  The Angel of Death, George William Lancaster Memorial by Sydney March
• 
  Markham Buxton memorial
• 
  Grave of actor Roy Kinnear
• 
  Grave of actor Fulton Mackay and his wife Sheila Manahan
• 
  Grave of William Robinson (Chung Ling Soo)
• 
  Grave containing remains of victims of the 2002 Bali bombings

See also

• Barnes Cemetery
• List of cemeteries in London

References