Lavender Hill Cemetery Chapel, Enfield
Category
Grade II listed. On the Heritage at Risk Register
In partnership with
Costs
£35,500
London Historic Buildings Trust (LHBT) has recently completed an Options Appraisal on the building for Enfield Council to establish a viable plan for the future of this redundant cemetery chapel.
The project was supported by the Enfield Society and engaged local stakeholders and the community through a range of events during 2024/5 to help inform the development of a financially viable and sustainable plan that reflects an understanding of the site’s significance as well as meeting local needs.
The Options Appraisal project, was generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Enfield Society and the Pilgrim Trust.
This part of the project has now ended but we are continuing to work with Enfield Council, advising on the next steps to implement the recommendations of the Options Appraisal. Please contact Heloise Palin for more information heloise.palin@londonhistoricbuildings.org.uk
Options Appraisal
The Options Appraisal project established that a phased approach was most practical to remove the building from the Heritage at Risk Register. Conclusions included:
- Identifying artists studios as a potential meanwhile use so that the building once again has a function whilst the longer term plan is developed and funding raised.
- A schedule of works was identified that would be necessary to accommodate the meanwhile use, including a schedule of urgent repairs and a rolling programme of maintenance.
- 4 different uses for the long-term future of the chapel were identified as viable, compatible with the character of the building and supported by the local community. These were: Rehearsal and office space for a community theatre; Teaching and workspace for an education provider; Countryside visitor centre; Artists’ and craftspersons’ studios.
- All of these potential uses would require the same physical changes to the building. Allowing for potential flexibility as the project develops.
Professional Team
The Project Steering Group commissioned Paul Chatham and his team at Peregrine Bryant Architects to lead a Professional Team comprised of:
Oliver Burgess and Laura Morgante (Project Conservation Architects)
Nabiha Fatima (Project Conservation Consultant)
Steve Green, Bowles Green (Business Planner)
Clive Dawson, Hockley and Dawson (Structural Engineers)
Option 1: A Rehearsal & Office Space for a Community Theatre
The building would be used as a base for a small community theatre company to provide both an office and a rehearsal space. If possible, it would also allow for the apse being used for occasional studio theatre performances with audiences of 30-40 people.
This scheme introduces a mezzanine and would be a small rehearsal space with separate office, storage, WC and accessible WC. The space could be reconfigured to allow for performances with an audience of approximately 30 people. The mezzanine would provide access to the Belfry with views over the space below and towards the apse and provide areas for storage and an office on the ground floor.
Option 2: Teaching & Workshop Space for Education
The chapel could be developed as an additional learning space for a school, college or university to use for a variety of subjects linked to either the location of the chapel and/or that meet local educational needs and/or apprenticeship-style learning associated with the repair of the chapel.
This scheme splits the nave into two sections, a sitting/lecture space towards the main door with seats for approx. 30 people, and an area towards the apse with work benches or desks for practical sessions. A kitchenette area, WC and accessible WC are provided in the vestry.
Option 3: Countryside Visitor Centre
This scheme provides multiple, shared uses to include an exhibition about the heritage and ecology value of the area with information about how to access and enjoy the countryside (including walking routes, what to see, and how to get involved). A place for countryside activities, for example: a learning space and a base for volunteers.
This design sees the nave used as an exhibition or event space with mobile partitions and displays. The apse is used as a small office space with a glazed screen separating it from the nave. A kitchenette area, WC and accessible WC are provided in the vestry.
Option 4: Artists' Studios or Work Spaces
This scheme provides a building that would either become a temporary or permanent home for local artists and/or start-up businesses looking for an affordable work space/studio with a small gallery area for occasional exhibitions.
This scheme splits the nave into several studio spaces formed by mobile screens or partitions that rise to the height of the side walls allowing light from the side windows to illuminate the whole space and individual units. A small communal space is provided. The screens can be rearranged to allow for larger exhibitions if needed. A kitchenette area, WC and accessible WC are provided in the vestry.
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Nature Walk with James Waterton
Saturday 16th November 2024, 11am to 12.30pm (FREE)
Come along and discover more about the magnificent trees, flora and fauna that populates this studding Victorian cemetery from 1871. James Waterton, who is a woodland arboriculturalist and Enfield resident, will lead this family-friendly walk through this designed landscape with mature trees. Booking required.
Address: Lavender Hill Non-Conformist Cemetery Chapel (west side), 72 Cedar Road, Enfield, EN2 0TH
Public Consultation: Ideas for Reuse with Peregrine Bryant Architects
Saturday 23 November 2024, 10am to 2pm
Come along and feedback on the ideas that have been developed by our Lead Consultant and Professional Team for the Nonconformist Chapel. For further information email: lisa.rigg@londonhistoricbuildings.org.uk
Address: Brigadier Hall, Brigadier Hill, Enfield EN2 ONL
OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL 2024
Open days and meet the architect – Sunday 15th and 22nd September 2024, 12pm to 3.30pm
We are opening the doors to the Non-conformist Chapel as part of the Open House Festival 2024. Come along and have a look inside, and find out more about the fascinating history of the area and plans to repair and reuse this building for local benefit. Drop in. No booking required.
Heritage Walk – Sunday 15th September, 2pm to 3.30pm
Join Joe Studman, a local history guide and Enfield resident, on a FREE walk through Lavender Hill Cemetery to discover Enfield’s late Victorian and Edwardian history. You will meet the Great and Good as well as characters from Enfield’s civic and business life on this relaxed heritage walk. Booking required.
Meet: Lavender Hill Cemetery (main entrance) at 2pm. Duration: 90 minutes.
The History of the Site
The Lavender Hill Non-Conformist Cemetery Chapel was built in 1870-1 by Thomas J Hill for the Enfield Burial Board who opened the original nine-acre site in 1872. The chapel is described as: ‘Finely sited at the top of Lavender Hill with views to the North.’ Built by J and J Field in a High-Victorian Decorated Gothic style, this chapel, located on the southside of the cemetery, has a mirroring Anglican counterpart to the east.
The Non-conformist Chapel has an apse, a two-stage bell tower with a broached spire and a central porched entrance. The rock-faced stone and ashlar dressings, pointed-arched openings with decoratively stopped hoodmoulds, traceried windows, leaf-decorated cornice to the eaves and board doors with decorative iron hinges contribute to help form a picturesque building, that has the potential to provide attractive accommodation for community benefit.
The chapel is situated in a 28-acre cemetery described in Pevsner as a ‘Funeral landscape of mature conifers, with some early Monuments picturesquely placed at the junctions of paths: William Buzsard †1877, urn on tall plinth in red granite; Benjamin Godfrey †1872, Celtic cross; James Whatman Bosanquet †1877, big chest tomb.’
This historic cemetery, which lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt (est. 1938), was locally listed in 2018 for its social, aesthetic and historic value as both a Victorian designed landscape and an open space that contributes to local people’s health and wellbeing. Originally, the cemetery was established to deal with the crisis of city churchyards being ‘quite simply, filled to overflowing’ as outlined by Mellor and Parson in London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer (2023). The cemetery was laid out in response to this and the nineteenth-century Public Parks movement’s aim to utilise green spaces to improve health and wellbeing due to the overcrowding experienced in rapidly growing industrialised towns and cities.
The Site Today
The chapel was listed in 1990, but it has been unoccupied for many years and from a recent visual inspection is continuing to deteriorate and is at risk. We are currently working with Enfield Council and the Enfield Society to identify how its long-term future can be secured. There are significant opportunities to develop solutions which link to wider borough strategies and that collaborate with local stakeholders.
Our Partners
The Enfield Society – have been supporting our projects in many ways, including ongoing management of the Former Charity Schools’ garden. At Lavender Hill they will be supporting us with heritage and nature walks. More to follow in the early Autumn …
Our Team
LHBT Project Managers – Lisa Rigg, Heloise Palin
Professional Team – Peregrine Bryant Architects, ABA Surveys, NT Surveying, Method Consulting, Hockley and Dawson, Brindle and Green, Laura Owen and Method Consulting.
Funding
