Chadwell Heath Cemetery Chapel With Entrance Gates, Piers And Railings

Chadwell Heath Cemetery Chapel with Entrance Gates, Piers and Railings

A cemetery chapel built in 1933-4 by Dagenham borough surveyor TP Francis. The building is constructed of red brick and artificial stone with a clay tile roof.

The chapel's plan comprises a vestibule set beneath a broad west tower with flanking store-rooms, a two-bay nave, and a canted apse to the east. The dominant feature is a westwork with flush stone facing to the lower storey and parapet stage, styled as a stylised obelisk or cenotaph. A raised Celtic cross is prominent on its face, with a triangular cap breaking through the parapet line. Two semicircular steps lead up to the western entrance, where double timber doors with raised cross motifs are set beneath an inscribed entablature (now illegible) with a semicircular niche above containing a small stone casket in front of a stained-glass sunburst fanlight, all enclosed within a curved hood-mould. The flanks of the tower feature a simplified version of this design, with tall rectangular windows. The nave has a steep-pitched roof with cranked eaves and a cross picked out in darker tiles. Nine-light windows are set in broad triple-keystone surrounds with herringbone brickwork panels and stone plinth below. The gable is finished with high kneelered coping and a raised stone cross. The low half-octagonal apse to the east has a stone plinth and parapet.

The vestibule beneath the tower has a barrel-vaulted ceiling and hardwood screens to north, east and south containing panelled doors with leaded sunburst glazing. The eastern doorway leading into the main chapel has a stepped architrave containing a clock and two silhouette figures of seated children facing a cradle, inscribed with "Jesus could not spare them any longer". On the reverse are two crosses and a text from the Book of Revelations: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death nor sorrow". The chapel interior has an open-truss roof and a tall semicircular chancel arch with stepped surround. The floor of the apse is raised up three half-octagonal steps, with a vaulted ceiling above bearing a plaster relief showing angels by an open tomb beneath a central sunburst boss. All furnishings are of polished hardwood. The nave features collegiate seating with angular bench-ends. In the apse stands a central lectern with raised cross; behind is an east-facing altar of stepped form reflecting that of the west tower, with a central raised cenotaph bearing a raised gilded cross set against a sunburst of inlaid woods and a small stepped pedestal supporting a crucifix. Lighting is provided by octagonal lanterns on slender wooden shafts attached to the bench-ends.

The main cemetery gateway, situated immediately to the east of the chapel, comprises four stone-capped brick piers. The central pair bear stone plaques with insignia of Dagenham Borough Council and support metal gates with close-set uprights and stepped outer pilasters containing roundels. Flanking railings of similar design describe a quadrant on either side, terminating in a further brick pier, with a short straight section continuing beyond.

The cemetery itself was laid out on an unusual plan resembling an astronomical diagram, with an orbital pathway 125 metres in diameter divided internally by radial paths meeting at a circular central fountain, and three further main paths branching off at the intercardinal points with additional fountains at their extremities. The chapel stands in a circular lawn at the easternmost point on the orbital pathway.

Plans for Chadwell Heath Cemetery, also known as Mark's Gate Cemetery, were first presented to Dagenham Borough Council in 1931. The borough was undergoing substantial population expansion at this time, partly owing to the development between 1921 and 1932 of the London County Council housing estate at Becontree. TP Francis, who also designed the swimming baths at nearby Valence Park, was responsible for the chapel design. Building work took place during 1933-4, and the first portion of the cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Chelmsford in May 1934.