The Anglican mortuary chapel, from the north, at London Road Cemetery, Coventry. This was designed by Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) with one or both of his assistants, John Robertson (1808/9-1853) and George Henry Stokes (1826–1871) — although considering that it was completed in 1847, the former seems more likely (see Hall). Another of the cemetery buildings in "reddish Hartshill stone" (Historic England), it is Grade II listed in its own right. [Click on these images to enlarge them.]
Left: Slightly different view of the tower, showing weedy excrescences. Right: The chapel in its setting (cropped from a contemporary steel engraving, reproduced by kind permission of Derek Robinson of the Friends of London Road).
The chapel is described in the listing text as being located "on a pronounced hill on the far side of a grassy dell." This is very well shown by the steel engraving [click here for the original uncropped reproduction]. Norman in style, it has a north porch and tower with a small spire, and a nave and chancel inside. Benjamin Poole described it at the time as a "substantial stone edifice ... in all respects suited to its purpose" (108). When the cemetery was opened in 1847, the first interments were in its vicinity. These are marked by some of the most impressive monuments.
Left: The west end of the Anglican chapel. Right: Close-up of the west door, with its very elaborate ironwork.
Early photograph of the chapel taken by chemist and photographer Joseph Wingrave, of High Street, Coventry, who would also be interred in the cemetery. Undated calotype, probably of the late 1840s.
Recent photographs by Laurence Cooke; historic photograph kindly provided by Derek Robinson of the Friends of London Road. Captions by Simon Cooke; commentary and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Bibliography
Hall, Ann. "John Robertson of Baslow — Architect." Friends of Princes Park. Web. 31 July 2019. [This is a very useful and relevant piece of research.]
"London Road Cemetery, Coventry." Historic England. Web. 31 July 2019.
"The London Road Cemetery" (the cemetery's own site). Web. 31 July 2019.
Poole, Benjamin. The New History of Coventry, Being a Concise Account of its Ancient Institutions, Customs, and Public Buildings. Later ed. Coventry: D. Lewin, 1862. Google Books. Free Ebook. Web. 31 July 2019. [The cemetery's records show that, like the photographer Wingrave, Poole himself was buried here.]
Last modified 31 July 2019