Chelsea’s Secret Cemetery | The Moravian Burial Ground
So easy to miss off Kings Road in Chelsea is a wonderfully peaceful green space; The Moravian Burial Ground.
It’s been here since the 18th century but the land (and the church’s history) go back way further…
History of the Moravian Church
Established in the 15th century in Bohemia (today, the Czech Republic) this protestant denomination is one of the oldest in the world.
The name comes from Moravia, an historic region of the Czech Republic, from which the church and its followers fled persecution. They took on a missionary aim and spread worldwide, granted a license in England from the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1742. Their first home in London was in the City, on Fetter Lane.
Today you can find a plaque on Fetter Lane commemorating the first Church. The site was destroyed during the Second World War and so they moved the congregation to the Chelsea site in the 1960s.
Lindsey House
In 1750 the (fabulously-named) Count Zinzendorf, Bishop of the Moravian Church, bought Lindsey House as well as the grounds of Beaufort House.
Lindsey House had been built in 1674 for the Earl of Lindsey but has since been extensively remodelled and is now split into separate, distinct, homes. Today it occupies 96-101 Cheyne Walk.
96-101 Cheyne Walk is the site of Lindsey House
In the grounds of Beaufort House the Count hired architect Sigismund Gersdorf to build a Chapel and Minister’s House, which dates from 1753 and can still be seen today.
Beaufort House
Today the Moravian Burial Ground stands on the site of the stable yard of Beaufort House, once part of Thomas More’s Chelsea Estate where he live from 1520-1535.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Creative Commons – Jan Kip 1708
At the edges you can still see Tudor brickwork, the last surviving remnants of his mansion.
There’s also a collection of restored shields at the back fo the burial grounds which chart the history of Beaufort House’s owners through time.
Moravian Burial Ground
Moravian cemeteries are known as God’s Acres and around 400 people are buried here. It’s laid out in traditional style, with flat grave stones symbolising equality in death and separated into 4 areas; for married and unmarried men and women.
However burials still stopped in 1888, today it’s still possible to bury ashes here.
An intriguing gravestone that caught my eye was this one;
In an article from Nunatsiaq News – the local newspaper for Eastern Artic Communities including the Nunavut and the Nunavik territory of Quebec – Kenn Harper sheds some light on the girl’s sad story.
Born Sarah Abraham Uvloriak on 19 December 1895, she was taken – aged 4 – to Europe by Ralph Taber. Taber was a promoter who persuaded people to travel with him to be exhibited in world fairs. Having successfully ‘showcased’ an Inuit at the Chicago World Fair he now wanted to exhibit throughout Europe.
In early November the family; Abraham and Juliane along with their five of their children, were part of an exhibition in Kensington Olympia. The Moravian Church records that sadly on 21 December an Eskimo child had died. She was buried two days later in Chelsea.
While in Europe the couple would lose two more of the children.
This isn’t the only Inuit child buried here. You can also find a tombstone dedicated to;
NUNAK
AN ESKIMO BOY
1770-1788
It’s in the South-West Corner of the site. Having not been baptised, he’s positioned outside the consecrated ground.
The Moravian Missionaries had established a settlement in Labrador, the most Easterly province of Newfoundland and around 1787 Captain James Fraser brought Nunak to England. Sadly I don’t know the circumstances of this voyage – whether Nunak had a say in travelling so far from home – but unfortunately he contracted smallpox and died shortly after his arrival.
Discover more local green spaces in my YouTube video
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Ronald Lloyd
Dear Katie,
What a lovely story beautifully illustrated. It is such a treat to read and look at your stories. Isn’t it amazing that you can still see such wonderful places in London. I hope you are keeping well. Love from Ron and Gilly.
Dawn
Thank you Katie for bringing to life such wonderful stories. Please keep up the good work.