Mortlake Crematorium

An article on the crematorium's history by Brian Parsons

Although cremations commenced in 1885, this alternative to burial was slow to be adopted in the UK; in 1930 only 3 per cent of funerals took place at a crematorium. It would not be until 1967 when cremations first exceeded the number of burials. Cremation was identified as a solution to the issue of local authorities securing land for burials and during the interwar years a number of crematoria opened in the London area, including Mortlake. The Mortlake Crematorium Board came into existence in January 1938.

By 1920 there were fourteen crematoria open in the UK with three in London; Golders Green (1902), the City of London (1904) and West Norwood (1915). Hendon would open in 1922. However, only 0.34 per cent of deaths were followed by cremation. Stimulated by the Cremation Society of England and then the Federation of British Cremation Authorities, many local authorities started to examine the possibility of building a crematorium. In June 1923, Richmond Council instigated a meeting with representatives from Barnes, Fulham and Richmond to discuss building one. Richmond’s reason for being proactive was the difficulty experienced in finding new burial space. However, for reasons that cannot be ascertained, no further action took place. Six years later Hammersmith revisited the idea and delegates from Barnes, Brentford & Chiswick, Hammersmith and Richmond, Acton, Ealing, Fulham, Kensington, Paddington, Richmond and Twickenham approved in principle the provision of a jointly-run crematorium in the Hammersmith Cemetery in Mortlake. Proposals were submitted to the Ministry of Health only to coincide with the issuing of an Economy Circular requesting councils to exercise restraint on spending. The cost of building Mortlake Crematorium would have been £11,000.

In October 1933, Hammersmith Council believed it was time to revisit the matter and called a conference with representation from seven councils: Acton, Barnes, Brentford & Chiswick, Ealing, Hammersmith, Richmond and Twickenham. Delegates were presented with a sketch of a crematorium supplied by the Hammersmith Borough Engineer and Surveyor, Robert Hampton Clucas. He designed the now demolished White City Lido in Wormhalt Park, Wormhalt Library and the Infant Welfare Centre in East Acton, Aspen Gardens estate in Hammersmith and the chapel in the Cemetery at Mortlake. The crematorium would comprise a central chapel to seat 110 mourners. The coffin would rest on a catafalque during the service that would be positioned in the middle of the chapel and descend to the basement crematory equipped with two gas cremators. The total cost of the land, buildings and furniture would be £28,790. Hammersmith agreed to supply the land for £3,000 which was pro-rata the price they paid for it in 1905. The seven authorities would need a loan with repayments proportionally based on the population of their areas. The Ministry of Health gave support to the scheme by endorsing it as ‘very desirable’. They also recommended forming a joint board which would require an Act of Parliament. It would be the first crematorium in the country to be owned by a collective of municipal authorities; until then all had been established by private companies or single authorities.

By December 1934, Twickenham along with Brentford & Chiswick had withdrawn from the scheme leaving only Barnes, Acton, Ealing, Richmond and Hammersmith. In November 1935 a Bill was drafted constituting the Mortlake Crematorium Board which would empowered it to provide a crematorium or crematoria, have the land transferred from Hammersmith's ownership and enable the Board to make bye-laws. Each authority had to obtain a resolution to sanction their participation in the Bill and this could only be achieved if there was an absolute majority vote by the councillors. Ealing held a special meeting and although the resolution was carried, the majority was not sufficient leading to the authority's name being removed from the Bill.

Barton's sketch plan for the crematorium

The Mortlake Crematorium Act received Royal Assent on 31 July 1936 and the Board came into being on 1 January the following year. Alderman Jackson of Barnes was appointed Chairman of the Board which comprised twelve members. The Board's first task was to appoint an architect and they chose Hampton Clucas's successor, Frank Douglas Barton. He produced a plan building on those of his predecessor for a central chapel surrounded by cloisters. Final plans were approved by the Board on 20 October 1937. The Board had to make two other important decisions. First, after surveying equipment in nine other crematoria, they decided to purchase two electric cremators from the Birmingham Electric Furnace Company. Secondly, organ music was required for the services and after hearing two nearby installations by the John Compton Organ Company of Acton, the firm was commissioned to provide a pipe instrument. Playable from the gallery, the organ pipes are accommodated in the room on the right of the catafalque.

Opening ceremony on 25 January 1939

Messrs Thorogood and Sons of Surbiton commenced building work on 4 April 1938 and the foundation stone was laid at a ceremony conducted by the Bishop of Southwark, Dr RG Parsons, on 21 June. The opening ceremony was presided over by Lord Horder, the chairman of the Cremation Society of Great Britain, during a dedication service on 25 January 1939. The first cremation took place the next day. The Board estimated that 150 cremations would take place in 1939. In fact, there were 312 in that year and 518 in 1940.

Central to the crematorium is the chapel. The walls are plaster with Indian grey wood panelled dadoes and beneath the carpet is a teak wood block floor. The apse has a marble dado and the catafalque is of coloured marble. Photographs of the chapel from the time of opening show a setting sun above the doors from the catafalque into the crematory.

Advert in the Acton Gazette April 1940

To encourage use of the crematorium, the Board embarked upon an intensive advertising campaign in local newspapers and also church magazines, strategies that reflected both the high level of newspaper readership and church attendance. They also provided funeral directors with photographs for displaying in their premises. Postcards were distributed as was a twice-yearly newsletter. Talks were given at town halls and to Rotary Clubs. Visits by groups were encouraged, such as the women's section of North Hammersmith Labour Party in 1951, and the Old Oak branch of the Women's Co-operative Guild. In 1949 the Board spent £55 on a model of the crematorium which was displayed at the Town Hall during Hammersmith Civic Week, an event attracting 27,000 people. Sunday memorial services were hugely popular, as were organ and record recitals, the latter demonstrating the state-of-the-art Tannoy system. In 1946 there were 1,183 cremations at Mortlake. Reflecting the fact that many of those cremated came from outside the boundaries of the four constituent authorities, the Board sought to widen its membership. The Borough of Brentford & Chiswick became a member of the Board in 1946.

The crematorium in 1839. The portico was added in 1949

Proposals for two additional chapels were never progressed, nor was a building to house the Book of Remembrance that would have been located on the front lawn. The only addition to the building has been the portico, which dates from 1949, and looks as if it was part of the original scheme. In 1962, the Board finally managed to arrange for traffic to enter the crematorium grounds via Kew Meadow Path; until this date all funerals had to go through the adjoining cemetery. Despite the competition from other crematoria opening in the west and north west London area (West London at Kensal Green in 1939, South West Middlesex at Hanworth in 1954 and Breakspear at Ruislip in 1958), the number of cremations steadily increased. In 1963 Mortlake undertook 3,089 cremations, which was the most in any year since 1939.

Exterior of the crematorium in 2016

The local author Colin Hines described the crematorium in Art Deco London (2003) as 'Probably the most undiscovered deco treasure in London…'. English Heritage subsequently listed the crematorium in May 2011 on account of it being a '…well-executed and characterful variation on the classic crematorium design, [with] pleasing elevations with arcaded cloisters, good quality detailing, an interesting plan form, and very little altered since it opened in 1939.' Since its opening over 185,000 cremations have taken place at Mortlake. It is now an established landmark not only as an Art Deco building, but also as a place of service to the community.

Sources:

Minutes of the following authorities: Richmond, Hammersmith, Fulham, Barnes, and Twickenham.

Minutes of the Mortlake Crematorium Board

HLG 54/379 National Archive

Mortlake Crematorium Act (1936)

Middlesex County Times

Hines C (2003) Art Deco London Park House Press

Jupp PC (2006) From Dust to Ashes. Cremation and the British Way of Death Palgrave Macmillan

Parsons B (2005) Committed to the Cleansing Flame. The Development of Cremation in Nineteenth Century England Spire Books

Acknowledgments

I am most grateful to Natasha Bradshaw, Superintendent and Registrar at Mortlake Crematorium, for access to the Board’s minutes, plans of the building and encouragement to undertake research into the history of the crematorium. See their website.

Dr Brian Parsons has worked in the funeral industry in London since 1982. He is author of The London Way of Death (2001), Committed to the Cleansing Flame: The Development of Cremation in Nineteenth Century England (2005), London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer (2023, with Hugh Meller), The Undertaker at Work:1900-1950 (2014), The Changing Face of the British Funeral Industry in The Twentieth Century: From Undertaker to Funeral Director (2018), and From Dust to Ashes. The Development of Cremation in England and Wales, 1874-2024 (Second Edition, 2025 with Peter C Jupp). See Brian's website