West Norwood Memorial Park Tomb of Alexander Berens

WEST NORWOOD MEMORIAL PARK TOMB OF ALEXANDER BERENS, NORWOOD ROAD SE27

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1065022
Date first listed:
27-Mar-1981
List Entry Name:
West Norwood Memorial Park Tomb of Alexander Berens
Statutory Address:
WEST NORWOOD MEMORIAL PARK TOMB OF ALEXANDER BERENS, NORWOOD ROAD SE27
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Location

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Date:
1999-09-26
Reference:
IOE01/00944/16
Rights:
© Mr David March. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1065022
Date first listed:
27-Mar-1981
Date of most recent amendment:
21-Apr-1993
List Entry Name:
West Norwood Memorial Park Tomb of Alexander Berens
Statutory Address 1:
WEST NORWOOD MEMORIAL PARK TOMB OF ALEXANDER BERENS, NORWOOD ROAD SE27

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
WEST NORWOOD MEMORIAL PARK TOMB OF ALEXANDER BERENS, NORWOOD ROAD SE27

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Greater London Authority
District:
Lambeth (London Borough)
Parish:
Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:
TQ 32320 72051

Details

In the entry for:

(off) NORWOOD ROAD SE27 1. (east side) 5023

TQ 3272 32/717 Tomb of Alexander Berens in West Norwood Memorial Park II*

the entry shall be amended to read as follows:

TQ3272 (OFF) NORWOOD ROAD 963-0/32/717 (East side) 27/03/81 West Norwood Memorial Park Tomb of Alexander Berens

GV II*

Chest tomb on tall plinth above a vault. c1858 by E.M. Barry; sculptures by Thomas Earp. Pink granite plinth, marble superstructure and Portland stone sculpture. Medieval Italian style. Rectangular stone base on which the battered pink marble plinth with a top frieze of Minton tiles carrying the letter B for Berens and a bear, in punning reference to his name; doorway on western elevation now bricked up but originally with bronze doors manufactured by Potter who also made surrounding cast iron railings, now gone. Free-standing, paired barley sugar columns surround the chest and support a foliated cornice; above each pair, a sculptured kneeling angel holding a shield. At the angles the cornice rises up to form pointed arch aedicules for figures of the 4 evangelists. Between the columns, panels carved in deep relief showing scenes from the life of Christ; eastern panel an open-work cross within a roundel. A further frieze of Minton tiles, including a Latin inscription, under the eaves cornice with antefixae. Hipped marble roof. All in a state of considerable decay. Berens was a linen draper of St. Paul's Churchyard who made a fortune in the "fancy trade; the tomb was said to have cost £1,500 and was illustrated in the Builder of November 1858.

------------------------------------

(off) NORWOOD ROAD SE27 1. (east side) 5023 Tomb of Alexander Berens in West Norwood Memorial Park TQ 3272 32/717

II*

2. d. 1858; by E M Barry. On high, red granite plinth, a marble sarcophagus in mediaeval Italian style with high relief panels divided by paired spiral twist columns; above these, seated angels rise before a pitched lower roof to the eaves of a raised hipped roof of marble slabs; large figures of Evangelists in niches at the four corners.

Listing NGR: TQ3232072051

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
204508
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 17 Greater London

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of West Norwood Memorial Park Tomb of Alexander Berens

Map

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End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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