Tomb Of Peter Pandia Rodocanachi And Family In West Norwood Memorial Park West Of Gate To Greek Burial Ground

963/0/10192 NORWOOD ROAD 10-JAN-11 TOMB OF PETER PANDIA RODOCANACHI AND F AMILY IN WEST NORWOOD MEMORIAL PARK WE ST OF GATE TO GREEK BURIAL GROUND

GV II Table tomb, c1899

MATERIALS: Pink granite

DESCRIPTION: Simple Neoclassical structure comprising stepped base, central pedestal surrounded by four short Ionic columns, and plain entablature with overhanging cornice and raised cross on lid. The pedestal is inscribed with the names of Peter Pandia Rodocanachi and various members of his family.

HISTORY: The West Norwood or South Metropolitan Cemetery opened in 1837, the second of the 'magnificent seven' burial grounds established on the outskirts of London in the 1830s and 1840s to relieve pressure on overcrowded urban churchyards. The buildings and landscaping were designed by the architect William Tite, who was also chairman of the board of the cemetery company. In 1842 a small area in the north-east corner of the cemetery was acquired for the use of London's Greek Orthodox community; this area was extended, and an Orthodox chapel added, in 1872. A large number of impressive mausolea were built by wealthy Anglo-Greek families, and the enclosure now contains the largest concentration of listed monuments in the cemetery.

Peter Pandia Rodocanachi (1831-1899) was born at Livorno, Italy, into an internationally important family of Greek merchants. Around 1850 he moved to London, where - along with his older cousin Michael Emmanuel Rodocanachi - he took charge of the British branch of the family trading network. In 1860 he founded his own firm, P P Rodocanachi & Co, and moved increasingly into finance, becoming a director of the Mercantile and Exchange Bank and a co-founder of the Anglo-Foreign Banking Company. He was also a prominent figure in London's Greek Orthodox community, one of the group who oversaw the building of St Sophia's cathedral in Bayswater.

SOURCES: 'Norwood: Cemetery, schools and domestic and other buildings', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), 180-187 Stuart Thompstone, entry on Peter Pandia Rodocanachi in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The tomb of Peter Pandia Rodocanachi is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural: an impressive late-Victorian granite tomb in a Neoclassical style * Historical: commemorates a leading Anglo-Greek merchant and banker of the period * Group value: with the other listed tombs in the Greek enclosure.