Tomb of Elizabeth and Alexis Soyer is a Grade II* listed building in the Kensington and Chelsea local planning authority area, England. First listed on 7 November 1984. A Victorian Tomb.
Tomb of Elizabeth and Alexis Soyer
- WRENN ID
- noble-hearth-wax
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Constituency
- Kensington and Bayswater MP: Joe Powell (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 7 November 1984
- Type
- Tomb
- Period
- Victorian
- Address
- Tomb of Elizabeth and Alexis Soyer, Harrow Road W10
- OS grid reference
- TQ 233 826
- Coordinates
- 51.52948, -0.22318
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The tomb of Elizabeth and Alexis Soyer is a pedestal tomb located in Kensal Green Cemetery, designed in 1844 by Alexis Soyer, who was a prominent chef and dietician of the mid-19th century. The tomb was carved by Pierre Puyenbroeck from Brussels. Elizabeth Soyer, a popular painter, tragically died in 1842 at the age of 29 after a miscarriage. Her husband, Alexis Soyer, is also buried here. The tomb is notable for its Portland stone and marble construction.
The base of the tomb was originally inscribed in large bronze letters reading "TO HER," and remnants of this inscription can still be observed. The middle section features a marble portrait relief of Madame Soyer, styled after Van Dyck, with an easel and brushes suspended below, which still show traces of the original paint. The rear of this section contains a recess that once held her easel behind glass, along with a wreath given by the opera singer Mlle Cerito.
At the top of the tomb is a standing female figure representing Faith, which was originally lit by a gas light, with the bronze gas nozzle still in place as evidence of this feature. Elizabeth's step-father, Francois Simoneau, known as the "Flemish Murillo," who died in 1859, is also associated with this site.
Local climate
Tomb of Elizabeth and Alexis Soyer sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- Monument to Robert Ferguson, Kensal Green Cemetery
- Monument to Dr James Barry, Kensal Green Cemetery
- Tomb of Margaret Pulteney
- Monument to James Edward Andrews, Kensal Green Cemetery
- Tomb of James Ward
- Triangular Monument to Julia Slater
- Tomb of William Chappell
- Tomb of Colonel Robert Ellison
- Tomb of Robert Kirby
- Tomb of Frederick Yates