Burials at St Mary-on-Paddington Green
The last burial at St Mary-on-Paddington Green was in the 1800’s
The churchyard was converted to a public park in the 1890’s and is now known as St Mary’s Gardens. It consists of grassland with some mature trees, and a children’s play area. Many gravestones and mausoleums can still be found in the park, and in the church grounds.
Some gravestones from the former graveyard are stacked against the west wall of the Gardens.
Photograph credited to – Libby Norman
The southern part of the Churchyard was removed to make way for the Marylebone Flyover in the 1960’s. The exhumed bodies being re-interred in an area of Paddington New Cemetery (now known as Mill Hill Cemetery).
Side note: In 1923 the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington resolved to acquire land for a new cemetery as its cemetery in Willesden Lane NW2 was rapidly becoming filled. Advertisements were not placed until 1929, seeking offers of land which had to be within 8 miles of Paddington Town Hall. The borough council appointed Mr. E. E. Lofting as architect in 1933 and the 26 acres that became the New Paddington Cemetery were opened in 1936.
There is a communal grave in the south-west side of this cemetery which contains the remains of those people who were interred at St. Mary’s Paddington Green when it was cleared in the 1960’s for the construction of the Marylebone Flyover and the Westway (A40).
The area is surrounded by a mixed species hedge and has a memorial stone and is intended as a quiet area where people will be able to go and sit.
Enquiries
Any enquiries regarding Past Burials or Church Record Searches should be directed to the Metropolitan Archive Office as our Church records are held there.
The Metropolitan Archive Office, 40 Northampton Road, London. EC1R 0HB
Tel: 020 7332 3820 Email: ask.1ma@cityoflondon.gov.uk Website: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/1ma
Photograph credited to Forscher scs
Text from plaque (above)
Reinternments from St. Mary’s Churchyard Paddington Green.
This plaque records that between June and November 1966 the remains from in excess of 450 graves were exhumed from the churchyard to the south of St Mary’s Church, Paddington Green, London W2, prior to the construction of the Marylebone flyover. The exhumations were re-interred within the area bounded by this hedge. Details of the deceased are held in the registers at the City Council’s Cemetery Office. Location – Milespit Hill, London. NW7 2RR. Tel: 020 8567 0913
Remaining Churchyard
- William Chandless (1829–1896), Amazon explorer
- Rev Alexander Geddes (1737–1802), Biblical scholar
- Basil Owen Woodd (1760–1831), hymn writer (erected by the Crosse baronets)
- Leonard Charles Wyon (1826–1891), engraver and coin-designer
St Mary’s Gardens
- Thomas Banks (1735–1805), sculptor
- Thomas Blore (1754–1818), historian
- William Collins RA (1788–1847), artist
- Matthew Dubourg (1703–1767), violinist
- Benjamin Haydon, (1786–1846) painter
- Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823), sculptor and his father,
- Joseph Francis Nollekens, artist
- Emma Paterson (1846–1886), feminist and unionist
- Thomas Richmond (1771–1837), miniaturist
- Sarah Siddons (1755–1831), actress
- Charles Stedman (1753–1812), army officer