Old Stanmore Church and the grave of W.S. Gilbert

Image: © Marathon Taken: 11 Apr 2022

There are two churches in Stanmore Churchyard. The old one was consecrated in 1632 by Archbishop Laud. The new church was begun in 1849 and contains much of the furnishings of the old church. A very full account of both churches can be seen at https://www.stanmoretouristboard.org.uk/churches/st-johns-brick-church-ruin-stanmore.html Ian Nairn in Nairn's London (1966) says "Behind a mean-minded Victorian church, the ruins of the old one are dissolving away in gentle melancholy. It was built in 1631 by Archbishop Laud to be the old religion revived, very Gothic, though using up-to-date bricks. Now it is roofless, with a mouldering Victorian tomb in the nave, and a triste churchyard around. But lovable, not horrible: bramble and roses growing up to the walls and over the mass-produced headstones; soft, tender dissolution, the kind of end that most people would wish for... Long may it stay so. Gray's Elegy should have been written here, instead of at Stoke Poges." In the foreground with the angel is the grave of W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and his ashes buried here.

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