The non-conformist chapel
The Anglican chapel
Before the Victorian era, all of London’s dead were buried in small urban churchyards, which were so overcrowded and so close to where people lived, worked and worshipped that they were causing disease and ground-water contamination.
An Act of Parliament was passed which allowed joint-stock companies to purchase land and set up large cemeteries outside the boundaries of the City of London. There were seven cemeteries, the ‘Magnificent Seven’ laid out about the same time (1832-41). Highgate Cemetery, where lots of famous dignitaries are buried, is the most well known: the others are Nunhead, Kensal Green, Brompton, West Norwood, Abney Park.
