Introduction
The cemetery in which some 200 people were interred has no evidence of gravestones today. It is closed, with gates and hedging at the boundary, paving slabs and grass. In front of St Joseph's Church is a pleasant garden with hedged areas, flower beds and lawn. To the right of the church door is a hedged shrine and memorial with informal herbaceous borders.
St Joseph's Catholic Church on Wembley High Road was built after the Diocese of Westminster had purchased land here in 1899 for a Catholic cemetery, although this was later abandoned. The small cemetery in Waverley Avenue was established and some 200 burials took place. In 1901 a small chapel was rebuilt on part of the site and used as a cemetery chapel. In 1911 the Diocese sold the land except the cemetery and site of the old church. In 1957 a larger church was built on the site, set back from the road by a garden. The cemetery is closed and has no evidence of gravestones today, with one tablet to double bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti.
Sources consulted:
Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England, London 3: North West (Penguin, 1999 ed); Diocese of Westminster website. To check Geoffrey Hewlett, 'Images of London: Wembley', Tempus Publishing, 2007
- Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts
Access contact details
Church garden unrestricted; cemetery locked
Directions
London Overground/Rail/Tube (Bakerloo): Wembley Central. Rail: Wembley Stadium. Bus: 18, 83, 92, 182, 224.
Owners
Diocese of Westminster
- Key Information
Type
Funerary Site
Purpose
Sacred / Ritual / Funerary
Principal Building
Religious Ritual And Funerary
Survival
Extant
Open to the public
Yes
- References
Contributors
London Parks and Gardens Trust