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St Patrick's Catholic Cemetery

Introduction

The cemetery is crossed by tarmac roadways and paths, with trees planted throughout including mature oak, poplar, Lombardy poplar, plane and sycamore. There are a number of fine monuments, including the striking modernist Ferrari mausoleum of 1965 and also a section for graves of Lithuanians. The war memorial consists of a raised platform with rows of white headstones hedged to the rear, with a white stone monument in the front.

St Patrick's Catholic Cemetery opened in 1868 to cope with the population expansion in Hackney in the C19th. The cemetery buildings, including its yellow brick Gothic mortuary chapel, were designed by the Roman Catholic architect Samuel J Nicholl who designed a number of RC churches as well as the cemetery buildings of St Mary's Catholic Cemetery at Kensal Green. By the early 1980s 168,000 burials are recorded as having taken place at St Patrick's. In order to cater for the demand for burials, land was reclaimed by adding a further 6-foot layer of earth over the old graves. Among those buried here is Mary Kelly, the last victim of Jack the Ripper, murdered in 1888.

Sources consulted:

Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons, 'London Cemeteries, An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer', 4th edition (The History Press, 2008); Robert Burley, Meg Game, Mathew Frith 'Nature Conservation in Waltham Forest', Ecology Handbook 11 (London Ecology Unit, 1989).

For more information see http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=WAL040

Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts

Access contact details

Weekdays 8am-4pm; Sundays/Bank Holidays 9am-4pm

Directions

Tube: Leyton (Central). Bus: 58, 69, 97, 158

Owners

St Mary's Catholic Cemetery Co.

Other Websites

Features & Designations

Designations

  • Conservation Area

Key Information

Type

Funerary Site

Purpose

Sacred / Ritual / Funerary

Principal Building

Religious Ritual And Funerary

Survival

Extant

Hectares

17.4

Open to the public

Yes

References

Contributors

  • London Parks and Gardens Trust