Summary
Portland stone mausoleum, dated c1850.
Reasons for Designation
The mausoleum of Joseph Hudson is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Artistic interest: one of the most opulent classical mausolea in the cemetery;
* Group value: with other listed monuments within the Grade I registered Kensal Green Cemetery.
History
The Cemetery of All Souls at Kensal Green was the earliest of the large privately-run cemeteries established on the fringes of London to relieve pressure on overcrowded urban churchyards. Its founder George Frederick Carden intended it as an English counterpart to the great Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, which he had visited in 1821. In 1830, with the financial backing of the banker Sir John Dean Paul, Carden established the General Cemetery Company, and two years later an Act of Parliament was obtained to develop a 55-acre site at Kensal Green, then among open fields to the west of the metropolis. An architectural competition was held, but the winning entry – a Gothic scheme by HE Kendall – fell foul of Sir John's classicising tastes, and the surveyor John Griffith of Finsbury was eventually employed both to lay out the grounds and to design the Greek Revival chapels, entrance arch and catacombs, which were built between 1834 and 1837. A sequence of royal burials, beginning in 1843 with that of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, ensured the cemetery’s popularity. It is still administered by the General Cemetery Company, assisted since 1989 by the Friends of Kensal Green.
Details
Portland stone mausoleum for Joseph Hudson, died c1850. The front is highly decorated with the pylon-shaped doorway (blocked) being surrounded with a border decorated with poppies, emblematic of the sleep of death; flanking pilasters decorated with strips carved with passion flowers; a meander pattern frieze beneath the cavetto cornice; and eared pediment with anthemion antefix contains acanthus scrolls and a triangle. The sides are plainer with inset panels.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
487825
Legacy System:
LBS
Sources
Books and journals Curl, Stevens J, Kensal Green Cemetery: The Origins and Development of the General Cemetery of All Souls, Kensal Green, London, 1824-2001, (2001) Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: London 3 North West, (1991)Other The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, Paths of Glory or 'A Select Alphabetical and Biographical List, illustrated with Line Drawings of their Monuments, of Persons of Note Commemorated at The Cemetery of All Souls at Kensal Green', 1997,
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
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