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Moravian Burial Ground (also known as Fetter Lane Moravian Burial Ground, Sharons Garden Cemetery, God's Acre)

Introduction

The burial ground is laid out in four squares, each reserved for a particular group: married women; married men; single women; single men. The headstones are all the same size, since all are equal in death, and are laid flat in the grass. The square plot is surrounded by hedging with 4 fig trees in the centre; at the south is a columned pergola with shields behind within a wooded area. There are plane trees around the perimeter wall of the cemetery and in front of the range of buildings is paved with circular patterns. The Burial Ground is enclosed on the east and south by Tudor brick walls.

Burial ground for the Moravian church established here by Count Zinzendorf, Bishop of the Moravians. In 1750 Zinzendorf had purchased Lindsey House and the grounds of Beaufort House, both once part of Sir Thomas More's Chelsea estate. The burial ground, on the stable yard of Beaufort House and having remnants of Tudor brick walls, was exempted from closure after the Burial Act of 1855 and around 400 people have been interred since 1751.

Sources consulted:

Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993); RBKC Cheyne Conservation Area Proposals Statement; Mrs Basil Holmes, The London Burial Grounds, London, 1896

For more information see http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=KAC100

Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts

Access contact details

The Exhibition Centre is open Wednesday afternoons or by appointment.

Directions

Tube: Fulham Broadway (District), Sloane Square (District, Circle) then bus. Bus: 11, 19, 22, 211

Owners

Fetter Lane Moravian Church

Other Websites

Features & Designations

Designations

  • The National Heritage List for England: Listed Building

  • Reference: Chapel and Minister's House; burial ground walls on north-east and south-west sides
  • Grade: II
Key Information

Type

Funerary Site

Purpose

Sacred / Ritual / Funerary

Principal Building

Religious Ritual And Funerary

Survival

Extant

Hectares

0.41

Open to the public

Yes

References

Contributors

  • London Parks and Gardens Trust