Paddington Old Cemetery is a civic cemetery that opened in 1855. It is located in Willesden Lane, Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent. It is also known as Paddington Cemetery or Willesden Lane Cemetery. It is Grade II listed, Entry Number:1001542.[1] [2] [3]
In 1855 Paddington Burial Board purchased 24 acres of rural land in Willesden. Cemetery designer Thomas Little created a horse-shoe tree-lined path layout.[4] On each side of the entrance he built lodges and in the centre, two Gothic-style chapels (grade II listed, Entry Number:1359002).[5] Its original formation was in a rural landscape which later became a green open space. There is a war memorial by the western entrance. There are 213 graves for casualties of World War I and World War II. The Goetze Memorial, erected by artist Sigismund Goetze in memory of his parents, is Grade II listed, Entry Number:1389534.[6]
The City of Westminster sold the cemetery to Brent Council in 1986[7] and still manages it today (2000). Paddington Cemetery received a Special Commendation in the 'Cemetery of the Year Awards' in 1999,[8] the cemetery office being praised for their work in reinstating the cemetery from closed status to local use. To celebrate the Millennium in 2000 new trees were planted and there is an apiary within the cemetery that produces 'Tombstone honey'.[9]