The Evolving Paradigm of the Victorian Cemeteries: Their emergence and contribution to London's urban growth since 1833

This project is concerned with the study of London’s early nineteenth?century private suburban cemeteries and interrogates how their inception advocated a process of rationalisation of burial spaces, and by extension, contributed to the formation of the city’s suburbs. My hypothesis is that the private Victorian cemeteries were the direct result of the socio?cultural, economical and political context and were part of a unique transformation process that emerged in early nineteenth?century London. I will argue that the re?ordering of the city’s burial spaces along the principles of health and hygiene, was directly associated with liberal capital investments and that its political support had consequences in the spatial arrangement of London. Beginning with a formal analysis of the context that underlay the implementation of the early Victorian cemeteries in London, this research will then investigate their spatial arrangement, aesthetics and functions. These developments will be illustrated through the study of three private Victorian cemeteries: Kensal Green Cemetery, Highgate; Cemetery and Brookwood Cemetery; which have been selected for their diverse history, scale, location, topography and socio?cultural make up. For the purpose of this research, a geographical boundary of observation of one?mile radius from each selected cemetery has been set, so to study each chosen site and its immediate context. The objective is to establish what influence the presence of Victorian cemeteries had in attracting (or indeed deterring) specific developments in the area. The Evolving Paradigm of Victorian Cemeteries will use maps, plans, surveys, prints, drawings, inventories and accounts of several archives and libraries to examine the context of nineteenth?century London and the selected case studies. This research will propose that a new understanding of London’s early Victorian cemeteries is emerging when they are studied in their local context. In particular, it will highlight how the process or rationalisation of burial spaces – as implemented with the early Victorian suburban cemeteries – contributed to the emergence of new spatial strategies that influenced the formation of modern London. Ultimately this established a new order and governance that controlled the visibility of death in the urban space.