Reception House, Hammersmith Cemetery

Reception House. Circa 1869, probably by George Saunders (1829/30 - 1907) for the Hammersmith Burial Board.

MATERIALS: brown stock brick with red brick and Bath stone dressings. Slate roof.

PLAN: single-storey and octagonal in plan.

EXTERIOR: located in the north-east sector of the cemetery, the building sits on a brick plinth with a stone coping. There is a stone stringcourse at cill level and cornice with red brick banding above the plinth and below the cornice. The entrance (in the east elevation) is reached via two stone steps. The original plank double doors with iron strap-hinges are set in a red brick pointed-arch with a stone hood-mould. There are four, high-set, lancet windows with red brick arches, stone cills and cast-iron lattice grilles, set at regular intervals around the building. There are two original, square-section, cast-iron downpipes. The steep-pitched octagonal slate roof has four dormers with wooden louvres and a decorative metal pinnacle.

INTERIOR: stone mortuary slabs on brick supports run round five of the walls. The floor has stone slabs sloping down to a central soakaway. The boarded timber roof structure has metal tie rods radiating from a metal boss. The brickwork is whitewashed.